Language norm
With language standards are referred to:
- the system of rules of a language that can be inferred from existing statements and is available to all members of a language community (see Th. Lewandowski)
- the entirety of supra-individual rules / regulations / rules / principles / models that make the use of language binding (Lewandowski)
Basics
Linguistic norms relate to different levels of language and language usage. Accordingly, we encounter them in various linguistic activities in everyday life. We unconsciously follow many linguistic norms. They only become an issue when it becomes clear that deviations are possible, e.g. B. different spellings such as hairdresser / hairdresser , forms such as the child / child or behavior - is z. B. Thank you to an offer with no or no, I don't want to respond to any more coffee ? Standards are either perceived as a restriction / correction or as a welcome guide in the event of uncertainties. Linguistic norms can belong to different types of norms, depending on the area of reference: binding, recognized rule (e.g. grammatical rules), generally recognized rule or standard (e.g. standard language), social norm related to values (e.g. linguistic courtesy) , legal regulation or legal norm (the official set of rules for regulating spelling). This breadth is related to the fact that linguistic norms are binding differently, many are not noted in writing and they are subject to linguistic and social change. One can differentiate between norms according to their content (what is prescribed?), The competent authorities, the conditions of use, the associated situations and the sanctions for non-compliance (Glück (Ed.) 2005: 665).
Except in the area of spelling, there are no standardization procedures or instances (in the German-speaking area). It is a convention that reference works such as the “Duden” are also relevant for questions outside of spelling, but this can only be stipulated in the area of schools and official bodies. The fact that most people in a language community still adhere to linguistic norms indicates the clearly social character of linguistic norms. As society uses language, generally accepted rules develop; society also reduces and develops variance independently of linguistics. (Peyer et al. 1996: 16).
Standardization efforts should take into account that language is a self-regulating system. Language does not require any global interventions, since as the primary sign system it contains a feedback mechanism which, under changing social conditions, manages the necessary adaptation to new communicative needs by itself (Weinrich).
The longer the effectiveness of a speech utterance is assessed, the more likely language norms are observed. Written language is therefore generally more oriented towards language norms than spoken language.
For a long time, linguistics, language criticism and rhetoric have not dealt with informal spoken language, so that conceptually written, more formal language is still considered the only correct language. A more differentiated question is asked which linguistic means are appropriate in which situation - this means that e.g. B. colloquial expressions are not always right or wrong, but not always appropriate.
Various normal ranges; Levels of language and language usage
Sounds and letters
As a pluricentric language, German has no uniform pronunciation standard . There are different scales for the pronunciation of standard German: stage sound, standard sound, colloquial language (see Orthoepie ). What is recorded in appropriate pronunciation dictionaries (e.g. Duden Vol. 6) is not a law, but a benchmark for certain situations. In many everyday or semi-public situations (e.g. radio), however, the pronunciation does not need to be completely standardized as long as the speakers pay attention to intelligibility and clarity. The orthography / spelling is the area of the language that is most precisely and clearly standardized. It is interesting that with the increase in informal written language in electronic media it is (again) evident that many alternative spellings are possible and understandable. Linguistically, a distinction is made between graphemics / graphematics (investigation of the writing system and its regularities) and orthography (fixing of the norm). It is particularly important to know the systematics of the writing system when teaching spelling in school.
Forms and sentence structure
Most grammatical forms and sentence structure rules are used correctly by children around the age of 6. Uncertainties arise in the case of rare forms (e.g. subjunctive ), in areas where there are regional or dialectal variants (e.g. I am / have been sitting, roast beef, of / by the child ) or where there is a language change (e.g. from strong to weak past tense form of the verb such as buk / backte, wob / wove , for further examples see Duden Volume 4, p. 460f.). Dictionaries and grammars provide information about the usual forms and variants; well-founded decision-making aids for various areas of linguistic doubt includes z. B. Duden Volume 9. The technical background knowledge is the subject of morphology / morphosyntax and syntax . Various models for describing the language system have been developed in both sub-areas of linguistics.
Words
Already in the ancient philosophy of language it was recognized that words do not naturally belong to their content, but rather through convention. However, in order to be able to act socially, individuals have to adhere to conventions. There is a certain freedom of choice of words between synonyms. Even if the meaning of two words is the same, there are differences: formal / informal, regional / standard language, group language / standard language, out of date / current, or it is about foreign words or politically (in) correct forms of expression. Larger, up-to-date dictionaries can be used to help with uncertainties . a. the variant dictionary of the German language by Ammon u. a. (Ed.), Which are based on variety linguistic and semantic-lexicographical research. Individual institutions, e.g. B. newspaper offices, work with guidelines or avoid certain expressions, v. a. in the area of " political correctness ". Any standardization going beyond this would be tricky in a democratic society, even if there is often a relatively high level of uncertainty in the area of choice of words. Reflection and discussion in schools and in public are more important.
The normative definition of word meanings enables a high degree of clarity . The determination of socially relevant terms turns out to be ideology- dependent (Lewandowski).
Text and types of text
The rules for the construction of sentences can be defined, but there are infinite possibilities to form sentences. The number of possible texts is even greater . It is no coincidence that linguistics struggled with the unit “text” for a long time. What linguistically goes beyond the sentence cannot be described as a purely linguistic rule system, but is strongly determined by the situation and the aim of action. Texts that have a lot in common, e.g. B. News on the same topic in the tabloid press, in online media, as a spoken radio message, as an eyewitness report, etc. Rules and norms for certain types of text can only be formulated for specific contexts of use. B. in minutes, contracts, business correspondence, etc. Other types of text such as B. the letter can at most be understood as a prototype.
Linguistic behavior, style
In everyday language, style is an unproblematic term, but it is difficult to assign it directly to one of the levels mentioned so far. From pronunciation / spelling to structuring the text, decisions have to be made at all levels: What do I want to express? How do I want to work? What options do I have, which ones do I choose? What are others doing in my situation? Do I want to act right away or stand out from others? Instead of strict norms (“that's good style”), a reflected use of language should be aimed for. This is why current language didactics does not primarily present text and style patterns, but rather aims to enable people to find the right forms for various formulation goals. This attitude is often misunderstood as being too indulgent or slack. It is correct if the various possibilities are tried out, compared and commented on from different sides and if topics such as political correctness or politeness are also addressed. Wherever it is not only about texts but also about interactive linguistic behavior, linguistic pragmatics comes into play. a. the speech acts and linguistic discourse analysis . Here, categories are developed that are useful for describing speech behavior and its effects (e.g. turn-taking / change of speaker).
Linguistics and linguistic norm
Current linguistics sees itself as a descriptive, non-standardizing science. The fact that norms are also set or questioned with descriptive modeling is little reflected in linguistics (Peyer et al. 1996: 10). This can be illustrated by how different linguists and laypeople use the term “grammar”. Many dialect speakers z. B. in German-speaking Switzerland are firmly convinced that their dialect has no grammar. They think less about grammar books than about the fact that they are not aware of any rules when speaking and that they do not feel restricted. Professional grammarians, on the other hand, emphasize that they do not want to prescribe anything to anyone, but rather adopt a purely descriptive attitude (Eisenberg 1999). In the area of spelling too, linguistics is more of a descriptive science. Linguists, however, have contributed significantly to the current official set of rules and have been intensely confronted with the normative aspects of their statements (see reform of German spelling of 1996 ).
Overall, however, linguistics is very careful when it comes to formulating norms. Where there is variance, it is described as neutrally as possible or, if necessary, with information on the frequency. Conversely, serious representations also contain unreflected normative statements - a combination of careful description and reflective, criteria-based evaluation should be sought (Peyer et al. 1996: 17–20).
See also
literature
Reference works, dictionaries
- Ammon, Ulrich / Bickel, Hans / Ebner, Jakob u. a .: German variant dictionary. The standard language in Austria, Switzerland and Germany as well as in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, East Belgium and South Tyrol. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2004.
- Der Duden Bd. 4 Duden The grammar . 7. Completely newly developed and expanded edition. Bibliographisches Institut Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2006.
- Der Duden: Vol. 6 The pronunciation dictionary. Accentuation and pronunciation of over 130,000 words and names. Basis of the German standard pronunciation. Extensive pronunciation theory . Edit v. Max Mangold. 6., revised. u. update Ed., Bibliographisches Institut Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2005
- Der Duden Vol. 9 Correct and good German. Dictionary of linguistic cases of doubt. Answers to grammatical and stylistic questions, wording aids and explanations of language use . 6., revised. Edition Bibliographisches Institut Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2007.
- Siebs, Theodor: German pronunciation. Pure and moderate high accents with pronunciation dictionary . Edited by Helmut de Boor, Hugo Moser and Christian Winkler. De Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2007
Technical literature:
- Dieckmann, Walter: Conviction or persuasion? 1964.
- Eisenberg, Peter: Who do we write grammars for? In: Stickel, Gerhard (ed.): Language, Linguistics - Public . Berlin 1999 pp. 121–142
- Glück, Helmut (Hrsg.): Metzler Lexikon Sprache . 3., rework. Ed., Metzler, Stuttgart 2005
- Lewandowski, Theodor: Linguistic Dictionary. 4th edition, Heidelberg 1985.
- Peyer, Ann / Portmann, Paul / Brütsch, Edgar / Gallmann, Peter / Lindauer, Thomas / Linke, Angelika / Nussbaumer, Markus / Looser, Roman / Sieber, Peter: Norm, Moral and Didactics. Linguistics and its filthy children . In: Peyer, Ann / Portmann, Paul (eds.). Norm, morality and didactics. Linguistics and its filthy children. A call for discussion. Tübingen, Niemeyer 1996 pp. 9-46
- Steger, Hugo (o. J. [1978]): 'Grammatical norm' and 'collective style norm' in the context of a language behavior model. In: Eifler, Günter / Saame, Otto / Schneider, Peter (eds.): Problems of language. An interdisciplinary lecture series. Mainz.
- Weinrich, Harald : Linguistics of lies. Schneider: Heidelberg 1967.
