HOW TO PRONOUNCE
dialect
/ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does dialect mean?
noun
- 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, Bavarian as contrasted with Standard German).
- 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.
- A variant of a non-standardized programming language.
More meanings (3)
noun
- A variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population.
- (derogatory) Language that is perceived as substandard or wrong.
- (offensive) A language existing only in an oral or non-standardized form, especially a language spoken in a developing country or an isolated region.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
He told it in the same soft dialect, which came readily to his lips, while the company listened attentively and sympathetically.
But, in fact, a breed, like a dialect of a language, can hardly be said to have had a definite origin.
More book examples (3)
Their country is on the confines of the Sahara, or great desert, and their language is the Shilhah, or a dialect thereof.
He filled the air all the way with snatches of oratorios, gospel hymns, and dialect and coon songs, in a startlingly varied programme.
One grievous failing of Elizabeth’s was her occasional pretty and picturesque use of dialect words—those terrible marks of the beast to the truly genteel.