Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c12.8.2

c12.8.2

but the smaller ones may be neglected, and we may distinguish between two large ones, generally called the lower and the higher, or the uneducated and educated classes. The languages of these differ, that of the lower class being more subject to those laws of development, growth, or corruption which I traced in the first lecture. Thus an uneducated Englishman uses many such forms as "I knowed," "you says," formed upon the prevailing analogies; and his pronunciation of a good many words is corrupt, as "genlman" for "gentleman," "wot" for "what," "guvner" for "governor," &c. And in the same way the language of the Marâthî, Gujarâtî or Hindî lower classes is not the same as that of the higher. But still the word dialect is not used in speaking of these two varieties, one principal reason being that the language of the lower classes is not acknowledged to have an independent existence. Again, when a community comes to have a literature, the style that is used, as a rule, differs from the ordinary conversational style. There are certain words, turns of expression, modes of construction, and even solitary forms which, though used in conversation, do not appear in books. Even these two varieties are not called dialects.