dialect








noun

  1. Linguistics. a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.
  2. a provincial, rural, or socially distinct variety of a language that differs from the standard language, especially when considered as substandard.
  3. a special variety of a language: The literary dialect is usually taken as the standard language.
  4. a language considered as one of a group that have a common ancestor: Persian, Latin, and English are Indo-European dialects.
  5. jargon or cant.

noun

    1. a form of a language spoken in a particular geographical area or by members of a particular social class or occupational group, distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation
    2. a form of a language that is considered inferiorthe farmer spoke dialect and was despised by the merchants
    3. (as modifier)a dialect word
n.

1570s, “form of speech of a region or group,” from Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectus “local language, way of speaking, conversation,” from Greek dialektos “talk, conversation, speech;” also “the language of a country, dialect,” from dialegesthai “converse with each other,” from dia- “across, between” (see dia-) + legein “speak” (see lecture (n.)).

54 queries 0.596