The status of "language" is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Romansh came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects. An opposite example is the case of Chinese, whose variations such as Mandarin and Cantonese are often called dialects and not languages, despite their mutual unintelligibility. COUNT 4
QSN1 What non-linguistic developments influence the status of a language? ANS1 historical and political QSN2 What dialect is the language Romansh similar to? ANS2 Lombardic alpine QSN3 What language are Mandarin and Cantonese sometimes considered dialects of? ANS3 Chinese QSN4 Why might Mandarin and Cantonese not be regarded as dialects? ANS4 mutual unintelligibility