A
standard language (also
standard dialect or
standardized dialect) is a language
variety used by a group of people in their public
discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of
standardization, during which it is organized for
description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works. Typically, varieties that become standardized are the local
dialects spoken in the centers of
commerce and
government, where a need arises for a variety that will serve more than local needs. A standard language can be either
pluricentric (e.g. Arabic, English, German, Persian, Serbo-Croatian,
French, Portuguese and
Spanish) or monocentric (e.g.
Icelandic,
Italian,
Japanese, and
Russian). A standard
written language is sometimes termed by the
German word
Schriftsprache.