[vkazanov]

Not really relevant to the topic in question but... Isn't this how most languages begin?

First you have a continuum of language dialects, then one of them dominates for political reasons, then it gets codified, then enforced onto everybody through centralised education. Dialects not under direct unified political control become related but separate languages... And so on.

[regularfry]

Yes, but I think the point is that trying to record a standardised version of something that has not yet been codified through that process is going to inevitably be somewhat approximate at best.