KOINE

a compromise language made up, usually, of several dialects of the same language but often relying heavily on one dominant dialect. It comes from the Greek koine (common) and, as a proper noun, designates Attic Greek. Koines are characterized linguistically by expansion in content, by the admixture of several dialects, and by expansion in role. In fact, the initial stage in the standardization of a language is sometimes called koineizing. Koines are never completely detached from the languages from which they issue. In all these respects koines differ from pidgins and creoles, which are limited in vocabulary and grammar, usually considered nonstandard, and represent the admixture of different languages, often from totally unrelated linguistic families. Koines may be written or spoken. Examples of koines include Standard Macedonian, the Italian of late 14th-century Naples, and the language of northern China in the 7th10th century. A contemporary koine is the Belgrade-based standard variety (one of two) of Serbo-Croatian.