Myths we live and speak by: Ways of imagining and managing language and languages

This chapter examines beliefs about language(s) showing how they are rooted in and help maintain a standard language ideology, i.e. the conviction that certain languages exist in uniform standardised forms and that such forms are desirable. Such an ideology is widespread (although historically contingent and not universal, as I show in this chapter), and has influenced lay and expert approaches to the study of language(s). This chapter shows how conceptualisations of ‘language’ have changed over time and how this has affected the way speakers evaluate phenomena such as language contact and language ‘mixing’. I discuss alternative ways of conceptualising language(s) that might encourage a more positive and inclusive view of multilingualism.