Answer

Part and parcel of the mission of political elites in the modern states of the 19th century was a desire to have one language prevail throughout society. A common language was viewed as one of the chief characteristics of nationality, one of a nation´s best “binding agents”. Since the early 19th century a people or a nation has tended to be defined and classified on the basis of language (e.g. a German is he who speaks the German language) and imposing a common, ´national´ language has been regarded as the surest way of inculcating a sense of national solidarity and national identity (e.g. all those speaking Italian are Italian). Linguistic homogeneity was the aim of all states. Dialects were stamped out and governments pressed speakers of minority languages or low-status languages to internalize the official language.

close window