True or false: There is no way to linguistically determine which dialect is "better" or "worse".

Question

True or false: There is no way to linguistically determine which dialect is "better" or "worse".

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

In this true/false statement, the claim is that there is no way to linguistically determine which dialect is 'better' or 'worse'.

Consider what 'better' or 'worse' means in a linguistic context. Linguistically, dialects vary in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and usage, but none of these differences makes one dialect inherently superior in terms of linguistic structure or correctness. Linguists generally treat all dialects as systematic and rule-governed varieties of a language, with value judgments about one being better or worse arising from social, political, or cultural biases rather than from objective linguistic criteria.

Therefore, the statement aligns with the view that linguistic assessment should focus on equivalence of communicative effectiveness and descriptive analysis of variation rather than hierarchies of value based on dialect.

If one were to argue against this idea, the line of reasoning would typically rely on social biases or prescriptive norms (e.g., standard language ideology) rather than linguistic analysis itself, which would be a category error by conflating social prestige with linguistic merit. The given assertion correctly captures the linguistic stance against objective 'better'/'worse' judgments.

In summary, the claim that there is no purely linguistic basis to declare one dialect better or worse is true, because judgments of superiority are socio-political, not linguistic, and all dialects are valid linguistic systems.

LIN204H5 S LEC9999 Summer 2025 F - Lecture Comprehension Check 1

True or false: There is no way to linguistically determine which dialect is "better" or "worse".

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LIN204H5 S LEC9999 Summer 2025 F - Lecture Comprehension Check 1

True or false: There is no way to linguistically determine which dialect is "better" or "worse".

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

In the United States today, “r-lessness” in words like car, father, and park are considered features of non-standard speech. In Britain, however, “r-lessness” is characteristic of Received Pronunciation, the standard prestige dialect. This illustrates that:

idiolect is a term for a single person’s way of speaking

Which of the following is NOT an example of style-shifting?

Which of the following is *NOT* an example of an extralinguistic factor that can define a speech community and the linguistic variation used by groups of speakers?

Dialects vary in how proper or good they are - some dialects are better than others.

Sociolinguistics is the study of the systematic relationship between language variation and social structures that exist within and across speech communities.

At a job interview for a prestigious law firm, the applicant — a native speaker of the r-less New York dialect — decides to speak Standard American English. Her reasons for this could be said to be due to [ Select ] jargon hypercorrection slang covert prestige dialect leveling overt prestige .

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

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Which of the following is NOT an example of an extralinguistic factor that can define a speech community and the linguistic variation used by groups of speakers?