I think many people view language as integral, if not the main, piece of the culture. So, many people care a lot about their language as a resistance to decadence of own culture
But it is not true. Culture is not bound to a language, it is expressed in a language. Huge difference. There is nothing special about the language as it relates to the culture
Language is a historical accidentiality that is just there. There is nothing special in it, it is not esoteric, perhaps some languages today only used in religious way but not all of them. Our culture is able to be expressed in any language and is not particularly locked in to something
So, why then the emotion? Patriotism is the explanation. Fear of loosing the linguistic community is real enough, because on the ground people mostly think of other people as language groups. Imagine you are in pre unified Italy. Everyone around speaks random dialects. And the way people speak is the first thing people notice
So, you have to know who you can trust or at least who is more familiar to you. People overwhelmingly trust other people who speak "without accent", and it was always this way
So, obsession with language is a precondition for allegiance. And allegiance is needed, of course, for war. So, in this sense, standardization of language paved the way and perhaps was intended as a way of building army
Not only that. Standardized language presupposes standardizing body which passes standards, hence the state which must enforce language rules. This results in creation of the national community, which now assumed to have one culture
So, standardized language is in fact destroyer of diversity of culture. The state enforces standards, replicates culture by education, and defends own existence by having army. This is not possible without a common language. So, in fact, if you view language as the main piece of the culture, and a culture without the language is impossible, people who speak unintelligible dialect have different culture even if they live in the same country/area?
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