DIALECT

dialect, idiom, accent

(noun) the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people; “the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English”; “he has a strong German accent”; “it has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

dialect (plural dialects)

(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

(pejorative) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong.

(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

(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).

Synonyms: vernacular, patois (often derogatory)

(computing, programming) A variant of a non-standardized programming language.

(ornithology) A variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population.

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.

• 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.

Meronyms

• idiolect

Anagrams

• citadel, dactile, deltaic, edictal, lactide

Source: Wiktionary

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Di"a*lect, n. Etym: [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. Dialogue.]

1. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue; form of speech. This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal dialect of the world. South.

2. The form of speech of a limited region or people, as distinguished from ether forms nearly related to it; a variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire dialect; the dialect of the learned. In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a standard English language. Earle. [Charles V.] could address his subjects from every quarter in their native dialect. Prescott.

Syn.

– Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See Language, and Idiom.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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