ABSTRACT
The most important characteristic of the traditional view is that a human language is essentially a homogeneous 'object' - a formal system that is to a large extent independent of its users and its context of use. Since a language is an object, it is 'acquired' by its native speakers during the course of language development. There is one situation in which the concept of a homogeneous linguistic variety is viable - the case of a national standard language. The initial preoccupation of generative grammarians with the formal properties of linguistic systems meant that the crucial problem of meaning was initially defined as being outside the scope of the subject. In principle a linguistic variety is characterisable in terms of a particular cluster of phonological, lexical and grammatical features. The initial preoccupation of generative grammarians with the formal properties of linguistic systems meant that the crucial problem of meaning was initially defined as being outside the scope of the subject.
