different between dialect vs acrolect

English

Etymology

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from ?????????? (dialégomai, “I participate in a dialogue”), from ??? (diá, “inter, through”) + ???? (lég?, “I speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?.??l?kt/

Noun

dialect (plural dialects)

1. (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
2. (derogatory) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong.
3. (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

4. (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, (often derogatory) patois

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

6. (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.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Meronyms

• idiolect

See also

• dialogue

References

Further reading

• "dialect" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 105.
• Crystal, David (2008) , “dialect”, in A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6 edition, Blackwell Publishing, ?ISBN
• Fodde Melis, Luisanna; (2002) Race, Ethnicity and Dialects: Language Policy and Ethnic Minorities in the United States, FrancoAngeli, ?ISBN

Anagrams

• citadel, dactile, deltaic, edictal, lactide

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from ?????????? (dialégomai, “I participate in a dialogue”), from ??? (diá, “inter, through”) + ???? (lég?, “I speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?dija??l?kt/
• Hyphenation: di?a?lect
• Rhymes: -?kt

Noun

dialect n (plural dialecten, diminutive dialectje n)

1. (linguistics) dialect (language variety)
2. non-standard dialect; vernacular

   Synonyms: streektaal, mondaard

Derived terms

• dialectgroep

Descendants

• Afrikaans: dialek
• ? Indonesian: dialek

Anagrams

• citadel

Romanian

Etymology

From French dialecte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.a?lekt/

Noun

dialect n (plural dialecte)

1. (linguistics) language socially subordinate to a regional or national standard language, often historically cognate to the standard, but not a variety of it or in any other sense derived from it
2. (colloquial) dialect

Declension

Derived terms

• subdialect

See also

• idiom, grai, limbaj, limb?

English

Etymology

acro- (“tip; peak”) +? -lect, coined by William Alexander Stewart in 1965.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?æk.??.l?kt/

Noun

acrolect (plural acrolects)

1. (sociolinguistics) The variety of speech that is considered most suitable for formal occasions (typically using only standard forms).

   Coordinate terms: mesolect, basilect

   • 1994, Michael Montgomery, The Crucible of Carolina, University of Georgia Press (?ISBN), page 60:

     In one dimension change is directed toward the acrolect, the “typical” change in the creole continuum.

   • 2013, Allan Bell, The Guidebook to Sociolinguistics, John Wiley & Sons (?ISBN), page 83:

     At the other end of the continuum is the most standard speech, the acrolect. In between is a gradient of forms with many successive levels, the mesolects.

Translations

See also

• code-switching
• matrilect

Further reading

• post-creole continuum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English acrolect.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?.kro??l?kt/
• Hyphenation: acro?lect
• Rhymes: -?kt

Noun

acrolect n (plural acrolecten, diminutive acrolectje n)

1. the acrolect; the high-prestige register of a language, mainly used in formal settings

   Antonym: basilect