Ausbau sociolinguistics and the perception of language status in contemporary Europe

Abstract

Minority language communities may suffer from many different types of disadvantage. One problem that they may face is the failure or refusal of majority communities to recognise their language as a language rather than a dialect. The degree to which minority languages are vulnerable to this kind of attack depends to a considerable extent on their linguistic characteristics. In investigating this kind of vulnerability, it is helpful to consider Kloss's distinction between Abstand and Ausbau languages. This distinction is also helpful in achieving a better understanding of other political and cultural problems concerning language vs. dialect status in modern Europe.