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A country that never developed its own language is Belgium, because since the time of its creation (1830), French, Dutch and German were the languages spoken.
And German only became a language there after WWI when the Eupen-Malmedy area along with it's 60,000 or so Germans was ceded to Belgium as part of the treaty.
Again, these dialects, especially in the case of the former Yugoslavia have existed long before those individual countries have so again, it was what they spoke FIRST which created a common identity that the nation states were created around. Roughly, of course this is very simplified here. What's more, those dialects are regional more than ethnically linked. Serbs living in Croatia speak the same dialect as their Croatian neighbors, not the dialect of Serbia.
But that is the case for all other countries too, it's just that with the other ones they were successful at creating a single standardized language that the whole country speaks, this was the case with French, Russian, German, Norwegian and many other languages.
another example of a failed language standardization. Czechoslovakian
and then you also don't see other countries claiming their dialect to be a separate language, say American, Canadian, Mexican, Australian, Austrian these are not languages, and nobody claims they are, yet in the Balkans that is happening. And when a distinction is made they make it clear it's still the same language, such as American English, British English, Canadian French, Austrian German etc.
I work in a small town literally sandwiched between two reservations and within a 10 mile radius of two more (and a 30 mile radius adds yet a couple more). So, about half the people I encounter at work or around town are Native American and I hear Keres, Tiwa, Towa, and occasionally Navajo, almost every day, but I would say that I live in a pretty unique area.
While there are Native American language speakers in many, if not most states, the population that speaks these languages on a daily basis is vanishingly small by proportion to the general population and I would say that the majority of Americans has never overheard a casual conversation in a Native American language unless they happen to live very close to a reservation or area with a concentrated community of Native Americans, and even at that, Native Americans usually speak English in public.
So if by "widely" you mean from New York to California, Florida to Alaska, then I certainly can't disagree, but I would not say it is common by a long stretch.
But that is the case for all other countries too, it's just that with the other ones they were successful at creating a single standardized language that the whole country speaks, this was the case with French, Russian, German, Norwegian and many other languages.
another example of a failed language standardization. Czechoslovakian
and then you also don't see other countries claiming their dialect to be a separate language, say American, Canadian, Mexican, Australian, Austrian these are not languages, and nobody claims they are, yet in the Balkans that is happening. And when a distinction is made they make it clear it's still the same language, such as American English, British English, Canadian French, Austrian German etc.
Here's the thing; Czechoslovakian is really more of a dialect continuum between what are two distinct languages in their purest forms. There actually was, or is a standardized version, it's mostly a written form. The written forms of languages generally tend to be more uniform than the spoken forms.
In cases like the former Yugoslavia and Scandinavia, national pride had a lot to do with it but those dialects are similar in differences as those with British vs American English.
The country USA did not really develop their own language. The continent, the area or land mass that is today the USA of course had several developed languages which to this day still are being spoken here and there. But as a country the US did not develop a language. Same goes for Canada many countries in South America.
Here's the thing; Czechoslovakian is really more of a dialect continuum between what are two distinct languages in their purest forms. There actually was, or is a standardized version, it's mostly a written form. The written forms of languages generally tend to be more uniform than the spoken forms.
In cases like the former Yugoslavia and Scandinavia, national pride had a lot to do with it but those dialects are similar in differences as those with British vs American English.
yes exactly, and all the new world countries could've standardized their dialects into a new language but they didn't, the only one that did was Afrikaans in south Africa which is a daughter language of Dutch.
yes exactly, and all the new world countries could've standardized their dialects into a new language but they didn't, the only one that did was Afrikaans in south Africa which is a daughter language of Dutch.
Languages need a fair degree of isolation to develop. The US only very briefly didn't have contact with the UK. For the majority of US history, there has always been a connection with the UK so while there is a standardized American English, for the most part, the differences are mainly in spelling of certain words and some minor grammar details. The dialects within the US vary more than standard American does from British English.
Spanish is a bit different. Mexico and Spain for about 100 years were largely estranged. The Spanish spoken between these two countries varies more by comparison. Spoken Mexican Spanish is often more divergent from most forms of Spanish.
Afrikaans was isolated from Dutch almost from the get go so it diverged quickly and rather rapidly.
It seems most countries in the world do not have own languages. Instead, they use languages of others such as European variants. For examples:
American Continent: Spanish, English
African Continent: English, French
...
The Portuguese catholic Priests created in Brazil a language called in Portuguese ‘’lingua general’’ (general language) used as lingua franca in early centuries of the Brazilian colonization.
How the Amerindians in that time in Brazil spoke over 700 languages, but most languages in Southern Brazil were from Tupi branch and in northern Brazil from Tupinambá branch they created a simplified language with only the main words understood by the ameridians of all tribes, but with Portuguese language structure what became easier for newcomers Portuguese learn it. Brillant idea.
This language was the main language spoken in Brazil for 300 years not only by white Portuguese offspring and Amerindians but by blacks slaves too. Only before the big influx of Portuguese migrants in later 17 and early 18 century and expulsion of the Jesuitas (catholic priests who taught this language) Lingua geral almost died and the Portuguese language is spoken nowdays for 99% of the Brazilians, but in some parts of inner Amazonia the natives speak this language still today.
The country USA did not really develop their own language. The continent, the area or land mass that is today the USA of course had several developed languages which to this day still are being spoken here and there. But as a country the US did not develop a language. Same goes for Canada many countries in South America.
It's a rather ashistorical way of thinking of things. The Americas had many nations before colonization. Those nations had their languages. They would have thought of themselves as separate groups with separate territories and separate interests just as France and Spain did. It's not like there was an "American" identity then.
You wouldn't expect a single language across that large of a territory unless it was propagated by conquest, expansion, and domination by a particular ethnic group, e.g. the Russian Empire. Or, indeed, English in North America.
.. Spoken Mexican Spanish is often more divergent from most forms of Spanish..
wat? No.
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