16.7 Standardisation
This is a gradual process and in English began as early as the 14th century. As we have already seen English is a hybrid language (amalgamation of 2 things) which is made up of different dialects and this has resulted in a language that is highly inconsistent. The need to establish a standard became important if English was to be taken serious as a national language.
Haugen (1966) has identified a four stage process to standardisation:
Selection
Language Selected- Variety selected is usually a prestigious one
Codification
Reduction of internal variability, establishment of norms of lexis, grammatical structures and spellings
Elaboration
The selected language is developed for a variety of purposes. This may involve expansion of linguistic resources
Implementation
The standard language must be given currency by making texts available in it, encouraging users to develop pride and loyalty
(Milroy and Milroy, 1985) Standardisation, therefore, is an ongoing process and an ideological struggle
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