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dialect

n.
US //ˈdaɪəˌɫɛkt// UK //dˈaɪəlɛkt// di·alect
  1. 1 regional language variety (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    a form of a language spoken in a specific area, with its own grammar and vocabulary.

    a variety of a language characteristic of a particular geographic area or social group, differing from the standard form in phonology, lexicon, and syntax.

    Example

    The local dialect in this mountain village is quite different from the language spoken in the capital.

    Example

    Linguists spent years documenting the rural dialect, noting that many of its grammatical structures had remained unchanged for centuries.
    Pitfall
    He speaks with a strong dialect.
    He speaks a strong dialect.

    A dialect is the language variety itself; 'accent' refers only to the pronunciation. You speak a dialect, but you speak with an accent.

  2. 2 programming language variant (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    a specific version of a computer programming language.

    a specialized version or extension of a programming language that shares the same core syntax but includes unique features or libraries.

    Example

    The team decided to use a specific dialect of SQL that was optimized for their database.

    Example

    While the core logic remains the same, this particular dialect of Lisp introduces several macros that are incompatible with the standard implementation.
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  1. 3 animal vocalization (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Science

    the different sounds or songs that animals of the same species make in different areas.

    a regional variation in the vocalizations of a specific animal species, most commonly observed in songbirds or cetaceans.

    Example

    Researchers discovered that whales in the Pacific have a different dialect than those in the Atlantic.

    Example

    The study suggests that songbird dialects are culturally transmitted, as young males learn the specific acoustic patterns of the local population.
Origin

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “inter, through”) + λέγω (légō, “to speak”); by surface analysis, dia- + -lect.

Word family

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