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O'Grady et al. define dialect: "A regional or social variety of a language characterized by its own phonological, syntactic, and lexical properties." [ 5 ] A variety spoken in a particular region is called a regional dialect (regiolect, geolect [ 6 ] ); some regional varieties are called regionalects [ 7 ] or topolects, especially to discuss ...
Dialects can be defined as "sub-forms of languages which are, in general, mutually comprehensible." [1] English speakers from different countries and regions use a variety of different accents (systems of pronunciation) as well as various localized words and grammatical constructions.
Prestige influences whether a language variety is considered a language or a dialect. In discussing definitions of language, Dell Hymes wrote that "sometimes two communities are said to have the same, or different, languages on the grounds of mutual intelligibility, or lack thereof", but alone, this definition is often insufficient. [26]
In the Language Survey Reference Guide issued by SIL International, who produce Ethnologue, a dialect cluster is defined as a central variety together with a collection of varieties whose speakers can understand the central variety at a specified threshold level (usually between 70% and 85%) or higher. It is not required that peripheral ...
[1] [2] Often, it is the prestige language variety of a whole country. [1] In linguistics, the process of a variety becoming organized into a standard, for instance by being widely expounded in grammar books or other reference works, [2] and also the process of making people's language usage conform to that standard, [3] is called standardization.
Аԥсшәа; العربية; বাংলা; Беларуская (тарашкевіца) Boarisch; Dansk; Deutsch; Ελληνικά; Español; Esperanto; فارسی
The earliest varieties of an English language, collectively known as Old English or "Anglo-Saxon", evolved from a group of North Sea Germanic dialects brought to Britain in the 5th century. Old English dialects were later influenced by Old Norse -speaking Viking invaders and settlers , starting in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Diglossia can exist between two dialects of a European language as well. For example, in Côte d'Ivoire, Standard French is the prestige language used in business, politics, etc. while Ivorian French is the daily language in the street, on the markets, and in informal situations in general; in Mozambique, European Portuguese is used in formal ...