Editing Idiolect (section)

==Language==
Language consists of sentence constructs, word choices, and expressions of style, and an idiolect comprises an individual's uses of these facets. Every person has a unique idiolect influenced by their language, socioeconomic status, and geographical location. Forensic linguistics psychologically analyzes idiolects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gerard|first=Christophe|title=The Individual and His Language: Idiolect, Idiosemy, Style|journal=Philologie Im Netz |year=2010|volume=51|pages=1–40}}</ref>

The notion of ''language'' is used as an abstract description of the ''language use'', and of the abilities of individual speakers and listeners. According to this view, a language is an "ensemble of idiolects... rather than an entity per se".<ref name="Zuckermann">Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2006), "A New Vision for 'Israeli Hebrew': Theoretical and Practical Implications of Analysing Israel's Main Language as a Semi-Engineered Semito-European Hybrid Language." ''Journal of Modern Jewish Studies'' 5 (1):57–71</ref>{{better source|date=January 2018|reason=ref only treats Hebrew}} Linguists study particular languages by examining the [[utterance]]s produced by native speakers.

This contrasts with a view among non-linguists, at least in the United States, that languages as [[Platonic idealism|ideal]] systems exist outside the actual practice of language users. Based on work done in the US, Nancy Niedzielski and Dennis Preston describe a [[language ideology]] seemingly common among American English speakers. According to Niedzielski and Preston, many of their subjects believe that there is one "correct" pattern of grammar and vocabulary that underlies [[Standard English]], and that individual usage comes from this external system.<ref>Niedzielski, Nancy & Dennis Preston (2000) ''Folk Linguistics''. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.</ref>

Linguists who understand particular languages as a composite of unique, individual idiolects must nonetheless account for the fact that members of large [[Speech community|speech communities]], and even speakers of different dialects of the same language, can understand one another. All human beings seem to produce language in essentially the same way.<ref>Gleitman, Lila (1993) "A human universal: the capacity to learn a language." Modern Philology 90:S13-S33.</ref> This has led to searches for [[universal grammar]], as well as attempts to further define the nature of particular languages.