LANGUAGE

and DIALECT,

REGIONAL

DIALECT

Yesicha Ryona

A1B011041

WHAT IS A DIALECT???

• A dialect (Greek: dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. It can have sub-dialects.

• A dialect is a complete system of verbal communication (oral or signed, but not necessarily written) with its own vocabulary and grammar.

• A dialect consists therefore of more than just an accent.

WHAT IS A DIALECT???

All but the very smallest language communities show

dialect variation. Dialect differences involve all aspects of language – syntax, lexicon, morphology, phonology, etc.

SyntaxI don’t have any socks.I don’t have no socks.I don’t got no socks.I am walking.I be walking.

waiting for Mikewaiting on Mike

waiting in linewaiting on line (NYC)

DIALECTS or LANGUAGE

• There are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing languages from dialects.

• Language varieties are often called dialects rather than languages because they are not (or are not recognised as) literary languages…

• … or because the speakers of the given dialect don’t have a state of their own

LANGUAGE and DIALECT

• Haugen (1966a) has pointed out that language and dialect are ambiguous terms.

• Ordinary people use these terms quite freely in speech; for them a dialect is almost certainly no more than a local non-prestigious (therefore powerless) variety of a real language.

LANGUAGE and DIALECT

• Language can be

used to refer either

to a single linguistic

norm or to a group of

related norms,

• and dialect to refer

to one of the norms.

What are the differences between a language and a dialect?

• S I Z E

A language is bigger (has more speakers)than a dialect, since a language is considered to be the sum of its dialects. Dialects are therefore considered to be subcategories of a language. So, if we take English as a language, we might consider varieties such as Cockney, Yorkshire English , Australian English, etc as dialects of the language 'English'.

What are the differences between a language and a dialect?

• P R E S T I G EA language is more prestigious than a dialect.

A dialect is popularly considered to be "a substandard, low status, often rustic form of a language, lacking in prestige. Dialects are often being thought of as being some kind of erroneous deviation from the norm - an aberration of the 'proper' or standard form of language." (Chambers and Trudgill 1998).

For most people (at least in Britain), the level of prestige a variety has is dependent on whether it is used in formal writing. Varieties which are unwritten are commonly referred to as dialects, whereas those used in writing are considered to be the 'proper language'

REGIONAL DIALECT

• Regional variation in the way a language is spoken is likely to provide one of the easiest ways of observing variety in language.

• As you travel throughout a wide geographical area in which a language is spoken, and particularly if that language has been spoken in that area for many hundreds of years, you are almost certain to notice differences in pronunciation, in the choices and forms of words, and in syntax.

• Such distinctive varieties are usually called regional dialects of the language.

REGIONAL DIALECT

The dialects of American English that most people think about tend to be geographically defined. E.g., Midwestern, Bostonian, Southern.May be called the "standard dialects“ because they represent the regional standard.No single "standard American English“.

REGIONAL DIALECT

Initially the regional dialects of the U.S. reflected settlement patterns of immigrants from various regions of Britain.Changes in the dialects occurred over time in each region to bring each to where it is today.All language undergoes change!

Thank You