Sinhala diglossia

Discrete or continuous variation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7901697
AutoresJohn C Paolillo (The University of Texas at Arlington, autor de correspondencia)
Año1997
Volumen26
Número2
Páginas269-296
Fecha de publicación1997-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404500020935
OpenAlexW2021361918
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas18

Sociolinguists disagree on how to characterize diglossia with respect to the structural relatedness of the H(igh) and L(ow) varieties: Ferguson 1959, 1991 holds that H and L should be distinct but related varieties of language, while others maintain that a continuum model is more appropriate. Both discrete models (Gair 1968, 1992) and continuum models (De Silva 1974, 1979) have been proposed for Sinhala, as spoken in Sri Lanka. In this article, I employ a computer-generated multidimensional graph of relations between varieties of Sinhala to show that the distribution of H and L grammatical features in a sample of naturally occurring texts supports the discrete H and L model more than the continuum model. A rigorous characterization of diglossia as a distinct type of language situation is proposed, based on the notion “functional diasystem.” (Diglossia, Sinhala, Sri Lanka, diasystem, hybridization, continuum, South Asia, standardization

Astrophysics · Diglossia · Geography · Linguistics · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Physics · Sociology · Variation (astronomy) · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy