Diglossia

A third aspect of language contact relates to the issue of functional allocation. With a handful of languages, two distinct varieties of the same language are used, side-by-side, for two different sets of functions. The term diglossia (modelled on the word bilingual, and using Greek rather than Latin forms) was coined originally to label this phenomenon. In the Arabic-speaking world, there is the contrast between the Classical language and regional dialect. The same pattern, more or less, occurs in the German speaking cantons of Switzerland with High German as the standard language and Swiss German as the vernacular, in Haiti with French and Haitian Creole, and in Greece with the literary variety, katharevusa, and the vernacular, dhimotiki. While there are somewhat different historical reasons for each, and while the functional distribution is somewhat different, they share a set of distinctions. In each case, the standard (or H, from Higher) variety is used for literacy and literary purposes and for formal, public, and official uses, while the vernacular (or L, from Lower) for informal conversation and daily use. Paralleling the differences in use are differences in form. The grammar of the I. variety is generally simpler. For instance, fewer distinctions in the L variety are marked by the use of grammatical suffixes. There are also major differences in the vocabulary of the two varieties.

One of the major differences is understandably in the prestige of the two varieties. The H language is associated generally with a body of important literature and carries with it the prestige of a great tradition or religion. It is more stable, being protected from change by its association with written texts and by an educational system. It is also likely to be used over a wider region and thus can serve some unifying purpose. The L varieties are more localized and show dialectal variation and the tendency to change of unwritten dialects.

While developed originally to apply to cases of two varieties of the same language, the notion of diglossia can also be applied to the way in which two (or more) distinct languages come to divide up the domains in the linguistic repertoire of a speech community. In colonial situations, for instance, the language of the government takes on many of the attributes of an H language, while the various vernaculars fit the definition of an L language. For Navajo Indians, English fills the H function and Navajo the L. Another classic case is Paraguay, where Spanish is the H variety (used in literacy, education, and government, and associated with city life) and Guarani is the vernacular, spoken in the villages and used in the cities as a mark of informality and Paraguayan identity.

Diglossia thus refers to a society that has divided up its domains into two distinct clusters, using linguistic differences to demarcate the boundaries, and offering two clear identities to the members of the community. It is important also to note the political situations in which diglossia often occurs, with the H language associated with power. Educational pressure is normally in the direction of the H variety, and those who cannot master it are usually socially marginalized. At the same time, the L variety maintains value as a marker of membership of a peer or ethnic group.

While the classical diglossic cases have been stable for a long time, sociopolitical changes are starting to have their influence. Reference has been made to the possible emergence of an intermediate variety of Arabic, a kind of Educated Standard Arabic. In many countries, too the globalization of English has introduced a third significant language, so that triglossia or polyglossia is starting to emerge. This tendency confirms our central theme, the close intertwining of social and linguistic structure, so that changes in one are reflected in changes in the other.

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