dialect

English

/ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/

noun
Definitions
  • (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.
  • (pejorative) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong.
  • (colloquial) A language existing only in an oral or non-standardized form, especially a language spoken in a developing country or an isolated region.
  • (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).
  • (computing) A variant of a non-standardized programming language.
  • (ornithology) A variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population.

Etymology

Derived from Middle French dialecte derived from Latin dialectos derived from Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (conversation, the language of a country a place a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language, speech, talk, way of speaking).

Origin

Ancient Greek

διάλεκτος

Gloss

conversation, the language of a country a place a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language, speech, talk, way of speaking

Concept
Semantic Field

Basic actions and technology

Ontological Category

Person/Thing

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms