dialect definition

English dialect definition

Etymology

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “I participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “inter, through”) + λέγω (légō, “I speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

dialect (plural dialects)

1. (linguistics) A variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular area, community, or social group, differing from other varieties of the same language in relatively minor ways as regards grammar, phonology, and lexicon.

   Hyponyms: sociolect, ethnolect, regiolect, geolect

   • 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar: A First Course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 139:

     And in addition, many dialects of English make no morphological distinction between Adjectives and Adverbs, and thus use Adjectives in contexts where the standard language requires -ly Adverbs

   • Linguistics definition

     The scientific study of language.

   • Variety definition

     The quality of being varied; diversity. (1 of 12 variety definitions)

   • Language definition

     A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication. (1 of 9 language definitions)

   • Area definition

     A measure of the extent of a surface; it is measured in square units. (1 of 7 area definitions)

   • Community definition

     A group sharing a common understanding, and often the same language, law, manners, and/or tradition. (1 of 8 community definitions)

   • Social Group definition

     A collection of humans or animals who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity.

   • Grammar definition

     A system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language. (1 of 9 grammar definitions)

   • Phonology definition

     The study of the way sounds function in languages, including phonemes, syllable structure, stress, accent, intonation, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language. (1 of 2 phonology definitions)

   • Lexicon definition

     The vocabulary of a language. (1 of 7 lexicon definitions)

   • Sociolect definition

     The variant of language used by a social group such as a socioeconomic class, an ethnic group, an age group, etc.

   • Ethnolect definition

     A language variety specific to an ethnic group.

   • Regiolect definition

     A dialect spoken in a particular geographical region.
2. (derogatory) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong.
   • 1975, H. Carl, Linguistic Perspectives on Black English, page 219:

     Well, those children don't speak dialect, not in this school. Maybe in the public schools, but not here.

   • 1994, H. Nigel Thomas, Spirits in the Dark, Heinemann, page 11:

     […] on the second day, Miss Anderson gave the school a lecture on why it was wrong to speak dialect. She had ended by saying "Respectable people don't speak dialect."

   • 1967, Roger W. Shuy, Discovering American Dialects, National Council of Teachers of English, page 1:

     Many even deny it and say something like this: "No, we don't speak a dialect around here.

   • Derogatory definition

     Tending to derogate: (1 of 4 derogatory definitions)
3. (colloquial) A language existing only in an oral or non-standardized form, especially a language spoken in a developing country or an isolated region.

   Synonym: vernacular

   • Vernacular definition

     The language of a people or a national language. (1 of 5 vernacular definitions)
4. (colloquial) A lect (often a regional or minority language) as part of a group or family of languages, especially if they are viewed as a single language, or if contrasted with a standardized idiom that is considered the 'true' form of the language (for example, Cantonese as contrasted with Mandarin Chinese, or Bavarian as contrasted with Standard German).
   • 1995, Michael Clyne & ‎Michael G. Clyne, The German Language in a Changing Europe, →ISBN, page 117:

     The question could be put: 'Is there anything inherent in a dialect which gives it a negative stigma or is it that the status of the majority of the speakers is transferred to the dialect?' — something that occurs in many regions in different countries.

   • 2010, Mirjam Fried, ‎Jan-Ola Östman, & ‎Jef Verschueren, Variation and Change: Pragmatic perspectives, →ISBN, page 61:

     Bloomfield, for example, noted that “local dialects are spoken by the peasants and the poorest people of the towns” (1933: 50) though he also thought that the lower middle class spoke 'sub-standard' speech.

   • 2014, Elizabeth Mary Wright, Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore:

     Among common errors still persisting in the minds of educated people, one error which dies very hard is the theory that a dialect is an arbitrary distortion of the mother tongue, a wilful mispronunciation of the sounds, and disregard of the syntax of a standard language.

   Synonyms: vernacular, patois (often derogatory)

   • Lect definition

     A specific form of a language or language cluster: a language or a dialect.

   • Regional definition

     Of, or pertaining to, a specific region or district. (1 of 4 regional definitions)

   • Minority definition

     The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood. (1 of 4 minority definitions)

   • Standardized definition

     simple past tense and past participle of standardize

   • Idiom definition

     A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, person, or group of people. (1 of 5 idiom definitions)

   • Cantonese definition

     Relating to Canton. (1 of 4 Cantonese definitions)

   • Mandarin definition

     Standard Mandarin, an official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu (1 of 2 Mandarin definitions)

   • Chinese definition

     Any of several Sinitic languages spoken in China, especially Literary Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, or Min Nan. (1 of 4 Chinese definitions)

   • Bavarian definition

     Of or pertaining to Bavaria

   • Standard German definition

     The German language, especially as distinguished from the standardized varieties such as Luxembourgish or Low Saxon.

   • Patois definition

     A regional dialect of a language (especially French); usually considered substandard. (1 of 5 patois definitions)
5. (computing, programming) A variant of a non-standardized programming language.

   Home computers in the 1980s had many incompatible dialects of BASIC.

   • Computing definition

     The process or act of calculation. (1 of 3 computing definitions)

   • Programming definition

     The designing, scheduling or planning of a radio or television program/programme. (1 of 4 programming definitions)

   • Variant definition

     Showing variety, diverse. (1 of 4 variant definitions)

   • Standardize definition

     Alternative spelling of standardise

   • Programming Language definition

     Code of reserved words and symbols used in computer programs, which give instructions to the computer on how to accomplish certain computing tasks.
6. (ornithology) A variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population.

   • Ornithology definition

     The branch of zoology that deals with the scientific study of birds.

   • Vocalizations definition

     plural of vocalization

Usage notes

• In some linguistic traditions, the term "dialect" is restricted to nonstandard lects. In scholarly English usage, it refers to both standardized and vernacular forms of language.^[1]
• The difference between a language and a dialect is not always clear, and often has more to do with political boundaries than with linguistic differences. It is generally considered that people who speak different dialects of the same language can understand each other, while people who speak different languages cannot, however, in some cases, people who speak different dialects of the same language are mutually unintelligible. Compare species in the biological sense.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Meronyms

• idiolect

See also

• dialogue

References

Further reading

• "dialect" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 105.
• Crystal, David (2008) , “dialect”, in A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6 edition, Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN
• Fodde Melis, Luisanna; (2002) Race, Ethnicity and Dialects: Language Policy and Ethnic Minorities in the United States, FrancoAngeli, →ISBN

Anagrams

• citadel, dactile, deltaic, edictal, lactide

Dutch dialect definition

Etymology

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “I participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “inter, through”) + λέγω (légō, “I speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdijaːˈlɛkt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: di‧a‧lect
• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Noun

dialect n (plural dialecten, diminutive dialectje n)

1. (linguistics) dialect (language variety)

   • Dialect definition

     A variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular area, community, or social group, differing from other varieties of the same language in relatively minor ways as regards grammar, phonology, and lexicon. (1 of 6 dialect definitions)
2. non-standard dialect; vernacular

   Synonyms: streektaal, mondaard

   • Non-Standard definition

     Alternative spelling of nonstandard

   • Streektaal definition

     regiolect, regional language

   • Mondaard definition

     dialect

Derived terms

• dialectgroep

Descendants

• Afrikaans: dialek
• → Indonesian: dialek

Anagrams

• citadel

Romanian dialect definition

Etymology

From French dialecte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.aˈlekt/

Noun

dialect n (plural dialecte)

1. (linguistics) language socially subordinate to a regional or national standard language, often historically cognate to the standard, but not a variety of it or in any other sense derived from it
2. (colloquial) dialect

Declension

Derived terms

• subdialect

See also

• idiom, grai, limbaj, limbă