Language variety

Example and reference

Appendix 2 of the Main Version of the Guide for the development of Language Education Policies in Europe. 2007,Council of Europe.

Definition

Term used in this Guide as a neutral, generic term when it was considered useful to avoid the term language, thereby avoiding value judgments (language = real language). Any definition of a language variety as constituting or not constituting a real language is based on external factors and not on any intrinsic characteristics of the variety itself. Labelling a language variety involves social stakes for individual speakers and groups (see also, for example, dialect, regional language, autochthonous language, mother tongue).