Connotacions i derivacions sociolingüístiques dels conceptes de "llengua" i "dialecte"

Resum

The article provides an overview of the – heavily ideologically charged – use of the terms "language" (llengua) and "dialect", the possibilities of their scientific justification, and the political implications and consequences of this distinction, especially with regard to the situation of Catalan. We are reminded that from a strictly linguistic (structural) point of view there is no essential difference between "languages" and "dialects" (both contain the Saussureian conceptual dichotomy of abstract "value" or rule system (langue) on the one hand, concretization in the parole on the other). However, in the historical processes of nation building, in connection with domestic and international hegemony efforts and their legitimation, different discriminating status attributions and evaluations at the expense of the minorized language varieties (= "dialects") prevail. The negative effects of such conceptual hierarchies are mainly presented in the controversies about Mallorcan and Valencian, but without going into detail about the detailed discussion of Catalan sociolinguistics.