Notes
Vachek's Functionalist Approach to Written Language
Here are a few highlights from Ch. 2 of Vachek, Josef. 1973. Written Language:
General Problems and Problems of English. The Hague: Mouton.
Valchek sees a "momentous step" forward when Artymovyc "claims for written
language a status to a degree independent of that of spoken
language." p. 14.
Indeed, Vachek says, the appropriate enquiry is to try
to find out the functional justification of the
existence of written language. p. 15.
"The written norm of language has its functional
justification alongside the spoken norm: in some specific
situations the former can serve the communicative needs of
the members of a community better than the latter." p. 16.
The two norms, Vachek says, appear to be
functionally compementary: one or the other will
be found more appropriate to use in a given
situation. p. 16
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