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Do you mean, does it apply only in cold climates, high altitudes, Humid Subtropical environments, or do you mean "social or political environments"?
Assuming you mean the latter, no it does not. There are social and political considerations envolved in deciding for instance whether Gallician is a) Portuguese, b) Spanish, or c) a separate language. But no amount of wishful thinking or "identity assertion" can make Welsh a dialect of English or English a dialect of Welsh.
A caveat: there is a strain of "research" in Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, and some in what is called "Linguistic Anthropology" that holds that identity, and among radicals in this group, all reality is "constructed". This position is foolish. There are clearly social, cultural, political, and personal considerations in figuring out "who one is", but, again, I wish my native language had been Welsh, but it was and is English. No amount of social, political, cultural, or wishful manipulation or "construction" can change that.
This sounds a little like a homework assignment in a Sociolinguistics class, so if it is, you as a man of honor will give full credit to Ask a Linguist for anything you use that you get here.
U of Cincinnati
Dept of Anthropology
U of Cincinnati
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