What is a standard variety or dialect of a language?
A standardarised variety of a language is the dialect of a language that has been chosen (either naturally over time, or consciously, or both) to be used as the representative dialect of a given language. Part of the standardisation process includes codification, namely establishing and/or normalising the spelling system (orthography), agreeing on acceptable grammatical norms, and selecting vocabulary appropriate to various domains. Standard varieties often combine features of several dialects, and are usually considered to be neutral and unmarked, compared to other dialects of the same languages. The term ‘dialect’ is usually reserved for non-standard varieties of a language, referring to and encompassing societal and regional differences in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, although ‘dialect’ simply means variety of a language. The standard dialect is usually the native variety and domain of those speakers who have greater political and socio-economic leverage in their society,
