You also are missing two main forms of any language... Formal (usually written, more technical)... and Colloquial (usually spoken, more common... more 'everyday' language)Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors
On a more direct point... I've heard countless debates, sometimes over several bottles... as to who speaks "true Russian"... Muscovites, Petersburg, Tomsk, Odessa, Kiev, those living along the Road of Bones, Kamchatka, Vladivostok...
Again... language will vary with dialects, context, vocabulary, location... and time. Consider Greek... and the now dead language of Latin.
I can't believe I'm giving such a fundamental linguistics lesson. Time for a beer and a siesta.