Dictionary

dialect en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɑe.əˌlekt/ (Australia)
• [ˈdɑe̯.əˌlekt] (New-Zealand)
• /ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (California) audio

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, “to participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “inter, through”) + λέγω (légō, “to speak”); by surface analysis, dia- + -lect.

Meanings

1. (strict-sense) 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, Bavarian as contrasted with Standard German).
   • 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. 2014, Elizabeth Mary Wright (died 1958), Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore:
   • 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. 1995, Michael [G.] Clyne, The German language in a changing Europe, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 117:
   • 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. 2010, Mirjam Fried, Jan-Ola Östman, Jef Verschueren, editors, Variation and Change: Pragmatic perspectives (Handbook of Pragmatics Highlights; 6), John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, Dialect, by Ronald Macaulay, page 61:
   • Comparative wordlists of two dialects of Yoruba with Igala. 2007 February 5, Roger Blench, “The Ayere and Ahan languages of Central Nigeria and their affinities”, in rogerblench.info, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2022, page 25:
2. (broadly) 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.
   • 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 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar: A First Course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 139:
3. (derogatory) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong.
   • Many even deny it and say something like this: "No, we don't speak a dialect around here. 1967, Roger W. Shuy, Discovering American Dialects, National Council of Teachers of English, page 1:
   • […] 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." 1994, H. Nigel Thomas, Spirits in the Dark, Heinemann, page 11:
   • Well, those children don't speak dialect, not in this school. Maybe in the public schools, but not here. 1975, H. Carl, Linguistic Perspectives on Black English, page 219:
4. (colloquial, offensive) A language existing only in an oral or non-standardized form, especially a language spoken in a developing country or an isolated region.
5. A variant of a non-standardized programming language.
   • Home computers in the 1980s had many incompatible dialects of BASIC.
6. A variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population.
   • A curious question, which has as yet attracted but little attention, is whether the notes of the same species of Bird are in all countries alike. From my own observation I am inclined to think that they are not, and that there exist "dialects," so to speak, of the song. 1896, Alfred Newton, A Dictionary of Birds, page 893:

Forms

Deriveds

dialecting · dialectical · Sambahsa-Mundialect · interdialect · dialectometrics · dialect levelling · dialectologist · dialectless · regionalect · intradialect · grapholect · dialect island · microdialect · -lect · dialectism · dialecticism · dialectology · dialectic · dialectal · dialectness · dialectometry

Hyponyms

dialect chain · Urtsun dialect · nondialect · social dialect · regional dialect · transdialect · nonstandard dialect · standard dialect · superdialect · eye dialect · vernacular dialect · Kansai dialect · subdialect · supradialect · dialect continuum

Relateds

ecolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · dialectical · ethnolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · dialogue · geolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · cryptolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · familect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · dialectics · idiolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · chronolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · regiolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · topolect (other lects (cp. -lect)) · dialectally · dialectician · sociolect (other lects (cp. -lect))

Synonyms

patois · vernacular

Translations (222)

ne भाषिका (particular variety of a language) · ckb شێوەزار (particular variety of a language) · szl djalekt (particular variety of a language) · ug شېۋە (particular variety of a language) · ru диале́кт (particular variety of a language) · tl diyalekto (particular variety of a language) · mn аялгуу (particular variety of a language) · sh nárečje (particular variety of a language) · ru го́вор (particular variety of a language) · hu dialektus (particular variety of a language) · nn mål (particular variety of a language) · xal айлһ (particular variety of a language) · cmn 話 /话 (particular variety of a language) · wal dirattuwa (particular variety of a language) · ky оогон (particular variety of a language) · am ዘዬ (particular variety of a language) · fo málføri (particular variety of a language) · nds-de Diälekt (particular variety of a language) · cmn 土話 /土话 (particular variety of a language) · tg шева (particular variety of a language) · yue 方言 (particular variety of a language) · or ଉପଭାଷା (particular variety of a language) · id dialek (particular variety of a language) · sl naréčje (particular variety of a language) · kpv диалект (particular variety of a language) · tg лаҳҷа (particular variety of a language) · arz لهجة (particular variety of a language) · fr patois (particular variety of a language) · ro dialect (particular variety of a language) · cmn 地方話 /地方话 (particular variety of a language) · de Dialekt (particular variety of a language) · io dialekto (particular variety of a language) · sco byleid (particular variety of a language) · fa-ira لَهْجِه (particular variety of a language) · eo dialekto (particular variety of a language) · mhr наречий (particular variety of a language) · az dialekt (particular variety of a language) · fa-ira گویِش (particular variety of a language) · km គ្រាមភាសា (particular variety of a language) · te యాస (particular variety of a language) · lt dialektas (particular variety of a language) · ajp لهجة (particular variety of a language) · th ภาษาถิ่น (particular variety of a language) · az ləhcə (particular variety of a language) · sh дија̀лекат (particular variety of a language) · cs dialekt (particular variety of a language) · hu tájnyelv (particular variety of a language) · hak 方言 (particular variety of a language) · crh şive (particular variety of a language) · he עָגָה (particular variety of a language) · nb dialekt (particular variety of a language) · tk dialekt (particular variety of a language) · nds-de Mundart (particular variety of a language) · cmn 方言 (particular variety of a language) · ta வட்டார வழக்கு (particular variety of a language) · bn উপভাষা (particular variety of a language) · ist gialìto (particular variety of a language) · nds-de Mundaart (particular variety of a language) · tg гӯиш (particular variety of a language) · af dialek (particular variety of a language) · yue 土話 /土话 (particular variety of a language) · yue 話 /话 (particular variety of a language) · sk nárečie (particular variety of a language) · ba диалект (particular variety of a language) · te మాండలికము (particular variety of a language) · kk диалект (particular variety of a language) · vi thổ ngữ (particular variety of a language) · uz dialekt (particular variety of a language) · hi बोली (particular variety of a language) · ga canúint (particular variety of a language) · om loqoda (particular variety of a language) · ceb pinulongan (particular variety of a language) · ky диалект (particular variety of a language) · udm наречие (particular variety of a language) · is mállýska (particular variety of a language) · kmr zarawa (particular variety of a language) · yi דיאַלעקט (particular variety of a language) · ace lugat (particular variety of a language) · es dialecto (particular variety of a language) · sat ᱵᱳᱞᱤ (particular variety of a language) · sq dialekt (particular variety of a language) · uk го́вір (particular variety of a language) · ug دىئالېكت (particular variety of a language) · ko 사투리 (particular variety of a language) · tt сөйләм (particular variety of a language) · tl wikain (particular variety of a language) · pl narzecze (particular variety of a language) · sh dijàlekat (particular variety of a language) · ast dialeutu (particular variety of a language) · ru наре́чие (particular variety of a language) · grc διάλεκτος (particular variety of a language) · nl dialect (particular variety of a language) · da dialekt (particular variety of a language) · nds-de Mundort (particular variety of a language) · swg Dialäggd (particular variety of a language) · mr पोटभाषा (particular variety of a language) · bo ཡུལ་སྐད (particular variety of a language) · fi murre (particular variety of a language) · el διάλεκτος (particular variety of a language) · wuu 方言 (particular variety of a language) · hu nyelvjárás (particular variety of a language) · hu tájszólás (particular variety of a language) · nds-de Dialekt (particular variety of a language) · uz lahja (particular variety of a language) · nan-hbl 方言 (particular variety of a language) · ur لَہْجَہ (particular variety of a language) · nrf dgialecte (particular variety of a language) · lo ພາສາທ້ອງຖິ່ນ (particular variety of a language) · mk на́речје (particular variety of a language) · ur بولی (particular variety of a language) · vo dialeg (particular variety of a language) · gsw Mundart (particular variety of a language) · he לַהַג (particular variety of a language) · ja -弁 (particular variety of a language) · tr lehçe (particular variety of a language) · mi reo-ā-iwi (particular variety of a language) · ka კილოკავი (particular variety of a language) · ms dialek (particular variety of a language) · ps لهجه (particular variety of a language) · tr şive (particular variety of a language) · udm диалект (particular variety of a language) · fr dialecte (particular variety of a language) · my ဒေသိယစကား (particular variety of a language) · mn аялга (particular variety of a language) · nl mondaard (particular variety of a language) · prs گویِش (particular variety of a language) · mww hom lus (particular variety of a language) · nan-hbl 土話 /土话 (particular variety of a language) · tr diyalekt (particular variety of a language) · bg диале́кт (particular variety of a language) · fa-cls گویِش (particular variety of a language) · kpv сёрнисикас (particular variety of a language) · tr ağız (particular variety of a language) · bg го́вор (particular variety of a language) · nn dialekt (particular variety of a language) · vi phương ngôn (particular variety of a language) · uz sheva (particular variety of a language) · la dialectos (particular variety of a language) · de Mundart (particular variety of a language) · sv mål (particular variety of a language) · ka ენაკავი (particular variety of a language) · ast dialectu (particular variety of a language) · uk нарі́ччя (particular variety of a language) · dng фон-ян (particular variety of a language) · nl streektaal (particular variety of a language) · bg наре́чие (particular variety of a language) · oc dialècte (particular variety of a language) · ja 方言 (particular variety of a language) · cs nářečí (particular variety of a language) · sh на́речје (particular variety of a language) · be гаво́рка (particular variety of a language) · mwl dialeto (particular variety of a language) · lb Mondaart (particular variety of a language) · cy tafodiaith (particular variety of a language) · my ဒေသန္တရစကား (particular variety of a language) · cdo 方言 (particular variety of a language) · lt tarmė (particular variety of a language) · ti ላህጃ (particular variety of a language) · ar الدَّارِجَة (particular variety of a language) · pa ਉਪਭਾਸ਼ਾ (particular variety of a language) · gl dialecto (particular variety of a language) · mk дијале́кт (particular variety of a language) · pl gwara (particular variety of a language) · hi उपभाषा (particular variety of a language) · os диалект (particular variety of a language) · gd dualchainnt (particular variety of a language) · id logat (particular variety of a language) · sh на́рјечје (particular variety of a language) · da folkemål (particular variety of a language) · uk діале́кт (particular variety of a language) · be дыяле́кт (particular variety of a language) · hy բարբառ (particular variety of a language) · sh дија̀лект (particular variety of a language) · mk го́вор (particular variety of a language) · ps ګړدود (particular variety of a language) · pl dialekt (particular variety of a language) · et murre (particular variety of a language) · ne बोली (particular variety of a language) · ml ഉപഭാഷ (particular variety of a language) · ota لهجه (particular variety of a language) · ca dialecte (particular variety of a language) · vi phương ngữ (particular variety of a language) · nn målføre (particular variety of a language) · sh nárječje (particular variety of a language) · ka დიალექტი (particular variety of a language) · ka კილო (particular variety of a language) · si උපභාෂාව (particular variety of a language) · mr बोली (particular variety of a language) · pt dialeto (particular variety of a language) · mt djalett (particular variety of a language) · mi tūreo (particular variety of a language) · sv dialekt (particular variety of a language) · sw lahaja (particular variety of a language) · lv dialekts (particular variety of a language) · km ប្រាក្រឹត (particular variety of a language) · az şivə (particular variety of a language) · nb målføre (particular variety of a language) · ms loghat (particular variety of a language) · it dialetto (particular variety of a language) · fa-cls لَهْجَه (particular variety of a language) · ceb sinultihan (particular variety of a language) · sh dijàlekt (particular variety of a language) · ar الْعَامِّيَّة (particular variety of a language) · gu બોલી (particular variety of a language) · he נִיב (particular variety of a language) · pt dialecto (particular variety of a language) · la dialectus (particular variety of a language) · tk şiwe (particular variety of a language) · rue діале́кт (particular variety of a language) · prs لَهْجَه (particular variety of a language) · fi aluemurre (particular variety of a language) · as উপভাষা (particular variety of a language) · nb mål (particular variety of a language) · ar لَهْجَة (particular variety of a language) · gsw Dialäkt (particular variety of a language) · sk dialekt (particular variety of a language) · ko 방언 (particular variety of a language) · gmw-rfr Dialegde (particular variety of a language) · kn ಉಪಭಾಷೆ (particular variety of a language) · sa उपभाषा (particular variety of a language) · yue 地方話 /地方话 (particular variety of a language) · ug لەھجە (particular variety of a language)