dialect
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.
a provincial, rural, or socially distinct variety of a language that differs from the standard language, especially when considered as substandard.
a special variety of a language: The literary dialect is usually taken as the standard language.
a language considered as one of a group that have a common ancestor: Persian, Latin, and English are Indo-European dialects.
jargon or cant.
Origin of dialect
1synonym study For dialect
Other words for dialect
Other words from dialect
- sub·di·a·lect, noun
Words Nearby dialect
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dialect in a sentence
Each has its own language or dialect, some similar, some mutually unintelligible.
Why a Universal Society Is Unattainable - Issue 95: Escape | Mark W. Moffett | January 14, 2021 | NautilusThe power portion is pretty straightforward, but the communication, as with human languages, can run into some challenges with dialect, even when they speak the same language.
We’ve got a big project right now, which is mapping all of the dialects in Scotland into a gigantic atlas and looking at how they all interrelate to each other and how people use them.
Talking Is Throwing Fictional Worlds at One Another - Issue 89: The Dark Side | Kevin Berger | September 9, 2020 | NautilusOr, you may be targeting people who already speak English but use different words based on regional dialects.
The findings fly in the face of previous hypotheses that birdsong dialects don’t change much within local regions.
A sparrow song remix took over North America with astonishing speed | Jack J. Lee | July 2, 2020 | Science News
He frequently slips into Neapolitan dialect so thick that is incomprehensible.
The Costa Concordia’s Randy Reckless Captain Takes the Stand | Barbie Latza Nadeau | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSicilian dialect is filled with Arabic words like mischinu (taken from the Arabic word miskin), which means a poor person.
Refugees Head to Sicily in ‘Biblical Exodus’ | Barbie Latza Nadeau | April 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTdialect, for instance, was not his métier, so like a true devotee of the form he exploited his incompetence for laughs.
I got it, and then I had a different dialect coach who worked with me on the project.
I must apologize for my regional dialect taking over everything.
"No, she don't or'ter," the Colonel thought, involuntarily adopting Jake's dialect; but what to do with her was the question.
The Cromptons | Mary J. HolmesTheir speech is a dialect called Chabucano—a mixture of very corrupt Spanish and native tongues.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanThe Press is represented by a large number of American, Spanish and dialect newspapers.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanFor months the public organs, issued in Spanish and dialect, persistently denounced it as a harbinger of ruin to the Colony.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanIn its inception it was a mere attempt to write pleasing, popular verse of a better kind in the dialect of the fireside.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
British Dictionary definitions for dialect
/ (ˈdaɪəˌlɛkt) /
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
a form of a language that is considered inferior: the farmer spoke dialect and was despised by the merchants
(as modifier): a dialect word
Origin of dialect
1Derived forms of dialect
- dialectal, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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