Dialect

Dialect, version of a language differing in some aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and sometimes also pronunciation, from other forms of the same language. A dialect restricted to a certain area or locale is a geographical dialect, one spoken by a specific group of people of a similar level of education, social class, or occupation is a social dialect; sociological data about speakers can thus be deduced from their dialects. Every language is made up of dialects, although some have many more than others; in fact every speaker uses at least one dialect, be it standard or non-standard, urban or rural, and so on. Some dialects are written and spoken, others are only spoken or only used in the written form.

Despite the fact that the standard variety of a language is itself a dialect, the term “dialect” is often used with derogatory intent to refer to only non-standard varieties of a language. However, all dialects are equally valid, each with their own regular phonological, lexical, and grammatical system so it cannot be said that a standard dialect is “better” than a non-standard, except on a purely subjective basis. The standard literary dialect of a language often was developed from a spoken dialect that was recorded by a talented writer or writers. Thus, the Tuscan dialect, employed with literary genius by the poets Dante Alighieri and Petrarch, dominated all other Italian dialects and became the written language of Italy. The High German dialect into which Martin Luther translated the Bible became Standard German. The East Midland dialect of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer became the basis of Standard English.

The term “accent” is often (incorrectly) confused with “dialect”. Whereas accent denotes a difference in pronunciation only, dialect refers to vocabulary and grammatical differences as well. In fact, a person can (and often does) speak both a regional dialect (for example, Scouse) and the standard dialect (for example, Standard English) in the same accent. Furthermore, the Standard English dialect is spoken all over the world in many different accents.

The dividing line between a language and a dialect is often blurred, and even that between dialects is difficult to establish. Usually dialects of the same language can be said to be mutually intelligible. However, this concept can be problematic since spoken dialects are not always mutually intelligible. In terms of sharing a common written language, the varieties spoken could be said to be dialects of the same language. Geographical dialect chains form in some areas, where those dialects geographically near to each other are mutually intelligible, but those further apart on the continuum are not. Sometimes continuums such as this stretch across languages (as in those spoken in Belgium, Holland, Germany, through to Austria), making the concepts of a “language” and a “dialect” overlap. Often languages are labelled as such for purely political or historical, not linguistic, reasons.