different between dialect vs isolect

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

Coined by Alfred Hudson in his published work on the languages of Borneo: iso- +? -lect.

Noun

isolect (plural isolects)

1. (linguistics) A language or dialect; coined as a neutral term between ‘language’ and ‘dialect.’ [From 1967.]
   • 1967, Alfred B. Hudson, The Barito Isolects of Borneo: a Classification Based on Comparative Reconstruction and Lexicostatistics, page 53,

     Dohoi is distinctive among all the Barito isolects […] .

   • 2003, Ralph W. Fasold, The Sociolinguistics Of Language, page 200,

     At the same time, the ordering of isolects that is finally chosen must give the right results for (virtually) all the environments.

   • 2008, Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie, Malay, entry in Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World, page 677,

     While Middle Malay, Minangkabau, and Kerinci have inland and west coast variants as their origin, Malay itself developed from isolects spoken on the east coast.

Related terms

• lect

Translations

Anagrams

• citoles, octiles, scolite