Naser - Qoli Sarli,
Volume 2, Issue 5 (5-2005)
Abstract
Unlike general linguistics which, practically speaking, prefers spoken language to written language, in studying the standard language and standardization, priority goes to written language. The logic behind this phenomenon must be found in social, cultural, and technical bases as well as the unique functional and structural characteristics of the written mode. Whereas features of written language contribute to its tendency for standardization, the nature of the spoken language has proved it more standard-resistant, so that some scholars, even, push the argument further denying the existence of any standard spoken language. Nevertheless, the sociolinguists have identified a standard variety for the spoken language but they have hardly suggested any precise definition for it yet. Although, standard spoken language should, by nature, have its own norms and criteria, in practice, the norms and criteria of written language dominate it and the written language functions as a prototype model. It is argued that the narrower the gap between the written and spoken modes in a given language, the higher the standard value of that language would be. The gap between written and spoken language has, at times, resulted in language death.
