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Meaning & use

dialect

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈdaɪəlekt/
US/ˈdaɪəlekt/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable or uncountable

    A version of a language with its own words, grammar or pronunciation, used by people from a certain area or group.

    Grammar: Countable for a particular dialect, uncountable for dialect in general: she speaks in dialect.

    Patterns

    • a dialect of something
    • speak a dialect
    • in dialect

    The villagers speak a dialect that visitors find hard to follow.

    He wrote the poem in the Scots dialect.

    Her accent faded, but her local dialect came back at home.

  2. nouncountable

    A particular way a language is used by a social or professional group, apart from region.

    Grammar: Often modified by social or regional terms.

    Patterns

    • a social dialect
    • a regional dialect

    Sociologists study how a social dialect marks class.

    Teen slang forms a dialect of its own.

    Some linguists describe legal English as a special dialect.

  3. nouncountablecomputingtechnical

    In computing, a variant of a programming language that differs slightly from the standard.

    Grammar: Used in technical discussion of languages like SQL.

    Patterns

    • a dialect of SQL

    Each database uses its own dialect of SQL.

    Code written in one dialect may not run in another.

    The compiler supports a minor dialect of the language.

Word forms

pluraldialects

Common combinations

regional dialect
A regional dialect often has words found nowhere else.
local dialect
Grandma still uses the local dialect.
speak in dialect
The characters speak in dialect throughout the novel.
dialect word
Bairn is a dialect word for child.
dialect of English
Jamaican English is a dialect of English with its own rhythm.

Synonyms and how they differ

vernacular
Vernacular means the everyday language of ordinary people, not necessarily a regional variety.
idiom
An idiom is a fixed expression, while a dialect is a whole variety of a language.
accent
An accent concerns only pronunciation, but a dialect also includes vocabulary and grammar.
patois
Patois often refers to a nonstandard speech like Caribbean creoles and can sound judgmental.

Opposites

standard language

Word family

dialectal adjective
relating to a dialect
dialectology noun
the study of dialects
dialectic noun
a way of discussion through opposing views

Commonly confused: dialect or accent? dialect or dialectic?

dialect vs accent

An accent is how words sound; a dialect includes words and grammar too.

dialect vs dialectic

Dialectic is a method of reasoning, not a form of speech.

Practice

Two people can share the same accent but still use different words and grammar because they speak different ___.

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