このところ，英語の標準化 (standardisation) の歴史のみならず，言語の標準化について一般的に考える機会を多くもっている．この問題に関連する術語と概念を整理しようと，社会言語学の用語集 (Trudgill) を開いてみた．そこから集めたいくつかの術語とその定義・説明を，備忘のために記しておきたい．
まずは，英語に関してずばり "Standard English" という用語から（「#1396. "Standard English" とは何か」 ([2013-02-21-1])，「#2116. 「英語」の虚構性と曖昧性」 ([2015-02-11-1]) も参照）．
Standard English The dialect of English which is normally used in writing, is spoken by educated native speakers, and is taught to non-native speakers studying the language. There is no single accent associated with this dialect, but the lexicon and grammar of the dialect have been subject to codification in numerous dictionaries and grammars of the English language. Standard English is a polycentric standard variety, with English, Scottish, American, Australian and other standard varieties differing somewhat from one another. All other dialects can be referred to collectively as nonstandard English.
ここで使われている "polycentric" という用語については，「#2384. polycentric language」 ([2015-11-06-1]) と「#2402. polycentric language (2)」 ([2015-11-24-1]) も参照．
次に，"standardisation" という用語から芋づる式にいくつかの用語をたどってみた．
standardisation The process by which a particular variety of a language is subject to language determination, codification and stabilisation. These processes, which lead to the development of a standard language, may be the result of deliberate language planning activities, as with the standardisation of Indonesia, or not, as with the standardisation of English.
status planning [≒language determination] In language planning, status planning refers to decisions which have to be taken concerning the selection of particular languages or varieties of language for particular purposes in the society or nation in question. Decisions about which language or languages are to be the national or official languages of particular nation-states are among the more important of status planning issues. Status planning is often contrasted with corpus planning or language development. In the use of most writers, status planning is not significantly different from language determination.
codification The process whereby a variety of a language, often as part of a standardisation process, acquires a publicly recognised and fixed form in which norms are laid down for 'correct' usage as far as grammar, vocabulary, spelling and perhaps pronunciation are concerned. This codification can take place over time without involvement of official bodies, as happened with Standard English, or it can take place quite rapidly, as a result of conscious decisions by governmental or other official planning agencies, as happened with Swahili in Tanzania. The results of codification are usually enshrined in dictionaries and grammar books, as well as, sometimes, in government publications.
stabilisation A process whereby a formerly diffuse language variety that has been in a state of flux undergoes focusing . . . and takes on a more fixed and stable form that is shared by all its speakers. Pidginised jargons become pidgins through the process of stabilisation. Dialect mixtures may become koinés as a result of stabilisation. Stabilisation is also a component of language standardisation.
focused According to a typology of language varieties developed by the British sociolinguist Robert B. LePage, some language communities and thus language varieties are relatively more diffuse, while others are relatively more focused. Any speech act performed by an individual constitutes an act of identity. If only a narrow range of identities is available for enactment in a speech community, that community can be regarded as focused. Focused linguistic communities tend to be those where considerable standardisation and codification have taken place, where there is a high degree of agreement about norms of usage, where speakers tend to show concern for 'purity' and marking their language variety off from other varieties, and where everyone agrees about what the language is called. European language communities tend to be heavily focused. LePage points out that notions such as admixture, code-mixing, code-switching, semilingualism and multilingualism depend on a focused-language-centred point of view of the separate status of language varieties.
diffuse According to a typology of language varieties developed by the British sociolinguist Robert B. LePage, a characteristic of certain language communities, and thus language varieties. Some communities are relatively more diffuse, while others are relatively more focused. Any speech act performed by an individual constitutes an act of identity. If a wide range of identities is available for enactment in a speech community, that community can be regarded as diffuse. Diffuse linguistic communities tend to be those where little standardisation or codification have taken place, where there is relatively little agreement about norms of usage, where speakers show little concern for marking off their language variety from other varieties, and where they may accord relatively little importance even to what their language is called.
最後に挙げた2つ "focused" と "diffuse" は言語共同体や言語変種について用いられる対義の形容詞で，実に便利な概念だと感心した．光の反射の比喩だろうか，集中と散乱という直感的な表現で，標準化の程度の高低を指している．英語史の文脈でいえば，中英語は a diffuse variety であり，（近）現代英語や後期古英語は focused varieties であると概ね表現できる．"focused" のなかでも程度があり，程度の高いものを "fixed"，低いものを狭い意味での "focused" とするならば，（近）現代英語は前者，後期古英語は後者と表現できるだろう．fixed と focused の区別については，「#929. 中英語後期，イングランド中部方言が標準語の基盤となった理由」 ([2011-11-12-1]) も参照．
・ Trudgill, Peter. A Glossary of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
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