Episode 157: Highlands, Lowlands and Netherlands
The History of English Podcast
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The Difference Between a Dialect and a Language
There is no simple linguistic formula or test to distinguish the two. The difference between a dialect and a language isn't really determined by how well the speakers can understand each other. It's more dependent on factors like politics, culture and national identity. If people think of their speech as a separate language, then it's a language.
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