Dominant notions of what constitutes a "language" and what a "dialect" within a continuum are entirely based on sociopolitical factors (i.e. the "languages by 'Ausbau'" of Kloss), totally disregarding structural and communicative aspects. This paper argues that such stance is no longer tenable in view of the modern challenges brought about by the development of European language policies. As the protection and development of regional multilingualism increasingly hinges on policy statements that refer to the concept of regional and/or minority "language," we are faced with the recurring assumption that the entity "language" is somewhat objectively identifiable. In such cases, however, mainstream sociolinguistic accounts based on "Ausbau" status do not provide a useful definition since most regional/minority languages display very low levels of "Ausbau" due to the fact that they have been socially subordinate to some other heavily "Ausbau"-ised variety. A purely sociolinguistic view of "language" leads thus to a paradox, for viewing "language" as "'Ausbau' language" excludes "a priori" many of the regional languages that language policy is meant to protect. I conclude by presenting an intelligibility-based approach that shows how the paradox can be resolved by applying insight from recent work on intelligibility rates.