1.1.1 Monolithic concepts of language

Each language is a single object

• There is a countable number of languages in the world, each with its own name and community of speakers.
• Human beings are normally native speakers of a single language, that of their nation and culture.

Each language has clear boundaries

• Where a language is spoken can be marked precisely on a map.
• Each word belongs to a different language; it’s clear what is a word in the language and what isn’t.
• Successful bilingual speakers have two languages in their heads and keep them separate; but many bilinguals know incomplete versions of each language, and therefore mix them up when speaking.

Each language has an unambiguous shape and form

• Each language has a grammar (recorded in grammar books) and a vocabulary (recorded in dictionaries). Only the rules in the grammar books are correct, and only the words found in the dictionary are real words.
• A lot of people don’t know ‘correct’ grammar; they also use words which are really ‘dialect’ or ‘slang’ and therefore not proper parts of the language.
• Where there are different forms of a language (dialects and accents), these are deviations from the ‘standard’ form and are only legitimate in their region of origin.
• Learning grammar requires studying and memorising a single set of rules and applying them correctly.

Each language is uniform and stable

• A language has a single structure, even though people might misuse it, have local varieties of it, or learn incorrect versions of it.
• Although new words can be added to languages to respond to new meanings, other changes usually reflect declining standards.
• The best examples of how the language should be used are in the great literature of the past.