Editing Dialect

{{Short description|Variant of a language}}
{{About|dialects of spoken and written languages|other uses|Dialect (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|diaspora language}}
{{Confusing|date=August 2023}}
{{Sociolinguistics}}

A '''dialect'''{{refn|group=lower-roman |The word has multiple derivations: [[Middle French]] {{wikt-lang|frm|dialecte}}, [[Classical Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|dialectos}}, and [[Ancient Greek]] ''{{wikt-lang|grc|διάλεκτος}}'' ({{grc-tr|διάλεκτος}}), 'discourse', in turn derived from ''{{wikt-lang|grc|διά}}'' ({{grc-tr|διά}}), 'through', and ''{{wikt-lang|grc|λέγω}}'' ({{grc-tr|λέγω}}), 'I speak'.<ref name=OED-etym>{{cite encyclopedia|entry='dialect (''n.''), Etymology'|encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary|date=July 2023|orig-date=2014|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford|doi=10.1093/OED/8666306791 |entry-url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/dialect_n?tab=etymology#6920297|url=https://www.oed.com/|access-date=21 September 2024}}</ref>}} is a [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]] of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and [[standard language|standardized]] varieties as well as [[Vernacular language|vernacular]], unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or isolated areas.<ref name="auto4">{{cite book |last=Fodde Melis |first=Luisanna |title=Race, Ethnicity and Dialects: Language Policy and Ethnic Minorities in the United States |publisher=FrancoAngeli |year=2002 |isbn=9788846439123 |page=35 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto5">{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarylingui00crys_715 |title=A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4051-5296-9 |edition=6th |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarylingui00crys_715/page/n167 142]–144 |language=en |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161002130314/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dialect Oxford Living Dictionaries – English.] Retrieved 18 January 2019.</ref>

The non-standard dialects of a language with a [[writing system]] will operate at different degrees of distance from the standardized written form.

==Standard and nonstandard dialects==
A ''[[standard dialect]]'', also known as a "standardized language", is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include any or all of the following: government recognition or designation; formal presentation in schooling as the "correct" form of a language; informal monitoring of everyday [[Usage (language)|usage]]; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a normative spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature (be it prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.) that uses it. An example of a standardized language is the [[French language]] which is supported by the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie Française]]|italic=no}} institution. A [[nonstandard dialect]] also has a complete grammar and vocabulary, but is usually not the beneficiary of institutional support.

The distinction between the "standard" dialect and the "[[nonstandard dialect|nonstandard]]" (vernacular) dialects of the same language is often [[arbitrary]] and based on social, political, cultural, or historical considerations or prevalence and prominence.<ref name="chao">{{cite book |last=Chao |first=Yuen Ren |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Se87AAAAIAAJ&q=language+standard+dialect&pg=PA130 |title=Language and Symbolic Systems |date=1968 |publisher=CUP archive |isbn=9780521094573 |page=130}}</ref><ref name="Lyons" /><ref name="johnson">{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nPsVxfVDXp0C&q=language+standard+dialect&pg=PA75 |title=How Myths about Language Affect Education: What Every Teacher Should Know |year= 2008 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0472032877 |page=75}}</ref> In a similar way, the definitions of the terms "language" and "dialect" may overlap and are often subject to debate, with the differentiation between the two classifications often grounded in arbitrary or sociopolitical motives,<ref name="mcworther">{{cite news |last1=McWhorter |first1=John |date=Jan 19, 2016 |title=What's a Language, Anyway? |agency=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/01/difference-between-language-dialect/424704/ |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref> and the term "dialect" is sometimes restricted to mean "non-standard variety", particularly in non-specialist settings and non-English linguistic traditions.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Benedikt Perak, Robert Trask, Milica Mihaljević |url=https://www.academia.edu/819390 |title=Temeljni lingvistički pojmovi |date=2005 |page=81 |language=sh}}</ref><ref name="Schilling-Estes" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Sławomir Gala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWEZAQAAIAAJ |title=Teoretyczne, badawcze i dydaktyczne założenia dialektologii |date=1998 |publisher=Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe |isbn=9788387749040 |page=24 |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Małgorzata Dąbrowska-Kardas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZVSAwAAQBAJ |title=Analiza dyrektywalna przepisów części ogólnej kodeksu karnego |date=2012 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |isbn=9788326446177 |page=32 |language=pl}}</ref>

==Dialect as linguistic variety of a language==
{{Organize section|date=August 2023}}
The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as [[social class]] or [[ethnicity]].<ref name="auto9">{{Cite web |date=30 July 2023 |title=Definition of DIALECT |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialect |website=Merriam-webster.com}}</ref> A dialect that is associated with a particular [[social class]] can be termed a [[sociolect]]. A dialect that is associated with a particular [[ethnic group]] can be termed an [[ethnolect]].

A geographical/regional dialect may be termed a regiolect<ref name="auto1">Wolfram, Walt and Schilling, Natalie. 2016. ''American English: Dialects and Variation.'' West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, p. 184.</ref> (alternative terms include 'regionalect',<ref name="auto2">{{citation |author=Daniel. W. Bruhn |title=Walls of the Tongue: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed |page=8 |url=http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~dwbruhn/dwbruhn_376_Dispossessed.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612214606/http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~dwbruhn/dwbruhn_376_Dispossessed.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-12 |url-status=live}}</ref> 'geolect',<ref name="auto6">{{citation |author=Christopher D. Land |title=The Language of the New Testament: Context, History, and Development |page=250 |year=2013 |editor=Stanley E. Porter, Andrew Pitts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5N9VUT5Tl4C |chapter=Varieties of the Greek language |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004234772}}</ref> and 'topolect'<ref name="auto10">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2010 |title=topolect |encyclopedia=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=Boston |edition=4th}}</ref>). According to this definition, any variety of a given language can be classified as "a dialect", including any [[standard language|standardized varieties]]. In this case, the distinction between the "standard language" (i.e. the "standard" dialect of a particular language) and the "[[nonstandard dialect|nonstandard]]" (vernacular) dialects of the same language is often [[arbitrary]] and based on social, political, cultural, or historical considerations or prevalence and prominence.<ref name="chao"/><ref name="Lyons">{{cite book |last=Lyons |first=John |title=Language and Linguistics |date=1981 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/languagelinguist0000lyon |url-access=registration |quote=language standard dialect. |page=[https://archive.org/details/languagelinguist0000lyon/page/25 25] |isbn=9780521297752 }}</ref><ref name="johnson"/> In a similar way, the definitions of the terms "language" and "dialect" may overlap and are often subject to debate, with the differentiation between the two classifications often grounded in arbitrary or sociopolitical motives.<ref name="mcworther" /> The term "dialect" is however sometimes restricted to mean "non-standard variety", particularly in non-specialist settings and non-English linguistic traditions.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Benedikt |last1=Perak |first2=Robert |last2=Trask |first3=Milica |last3=Mihaljević |date=2005| title=Temeljni lingvistički pojmovi |url= https://www.academia.edu/819390 |language=sh|page=81}}</ref><ref name=Schilling-Estes>{{cite book |last=Schilling-Estes |first=Natalies |year=2006 |chapter=Dialect variation |editor-first1=R.W. |editor-last1=Fasold |editor-first2=J. |editor-last2=Connor-Linton |title=An Introduction to Language and Linguistics |pages=311–341 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first = Sławomir |last=Gala |title= Teoretyczne, badawcze i dydaktyczne założenia dialektologii |date=1998|publisher=Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nWEZAQAAIAAJ | page=24 |isbn= 9788387749040 |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Małgorzata |last=Dąbrowska-Kardas |title=Analiza dyrektywalna przepisów części ogólnej kodeksu karnego |date=2012 |isbn=9788326446177 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZVSAwAAQBAJ |page=32 |language=pl}}</ref> Conversely, some [[dialectology|dialectologists]] have reserved the term "dialect" for forms that they believed (sometimes wrongly) to be purer forms of the older languages, as in how early dialectologists of English did not consider the [[Brummie dialect|Brummie]] of Birmingham or the [[Scouse]] of Liverpool to be real dialects, as they had arisen fairly recently in time and partly as a result of influences from Irish migrants.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Aveyard |first=Edward |year=2022 |title=What is Dialect? |journal=Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society |volume=23 |issue=122 |pages=25–36 }}</ref>

=== Difference between dialects and languages ===
{{anchor|Dialect or language}}
{{see also|Abstand and ausbau languages|A language is a dialect with an army and navy}}
There is no universally accepted criterion for distinguishing two different languages from two dialects (i.e. varieties) of the same language.<ref>Cysouw, Michael; Good, Jeff. (2013). "Languoid, Doculect, and Glossonym: Formalizing the Notion 'Language'." ''Language Documentation and Conservation''. 7. 331–359. {{hdl|10125/4606}}.</ref> A number of rough measures exist, sometimes leading to contradictory results. The distinction between dialect and language is therefore subjective{{How|date=October 2024}} <!-- Because not the same criterions are used it is arbitrary? --> and depends upon the user's preferred frame of reference.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ispan.waw.pl/journals/index.php/ch/article/download/ch.2016.011/2342|title=Tomasz Kamusella. 2016. The History of the Normative Opposition of 'Language versus Dialect:' From Its Graeco-Latin Origin to Central Europe's Ethnolinguistic Nation-States (pp 189–198). ''Colloquia Humanistica''. Vol 5.|access-date=8 March 2022}}</ref> For example, there has been discussion about whether or not the [[Limón Creole English]] should be considered "a kind" of English or a different language. This creole is spoken in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (Central America) by descendants of Jamaican people. The position that Costa Rican linguists support depends upon which university they represent. Another example is [[Scanian dialect|Scanian]], which even, for a time, had its own ISO code.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/656484|title=Ethnic Protest and Social Planning: A Look at Basque Language Revival|author=Urla, Jacqueline|year=1988|journal=Cultural Anthropology|volume=3|issue=4|pages=379–394|doi=10.1525/can.1988.3.4.02a00030|jstor=656484}}</ref><ref name="auto7">{{Cite journal|title=Dialect, Language, Nation|first=Einar|last=Haugen|date=August 28, 1966|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=68|issue=4|pages=922–935|doi=10.1525/aa.1966.68.4.02a00040|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/30029217|title=National Languages and Languages of Wider Communication in the Developing Nations|author=Fishman, Joshua A.|year=1969|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=11|issue=4|pages=111–135|jstor=30029217}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|format=PDF|title=Towards a National Indian Literature: Cultural Authenticity in Nationalism|author=Simon J. Ortiz|journal=MELUS|volume=8|date=1981|issue=2|pages=7–12|publisher=The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States|doi=10.2307/467143|jstor=467143|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/467143|access-date=8 March 2022}}</ref>

=== Linguistic distance ===
{{main|Linguistic distance}}
An important criterion for categorizing varieties of language is [[linguistic distance]]. For a variety to be considered a dialect, the linguistic distance between the two varieties must be low. Linguistic distance between spoken or written forms of language increases as the differences between the forms are characterized.<ref name="Tang 709–732">{{Cite journal|last1=Tang|first1=Chaoju|last2=van Heuven|first2=Vincent J.|date=May 2009|title=Mutual intelligibility of Chinese dialects experimentally tested|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2008.10.001|journal=Lingua|volume=119|issue=5|pages=709–732|doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2008.10.001|issn=0024-3841|hdl=1887/14919|s2cid=170208776 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> For example, two languages with completely different syntactical structures would have a high linguistic distance, while a language with very few differences from another may be considered a dialect or a sibling of that language. Linguistic distance may be used to determine [[Language family|language families]] and language siblings. For example, languages with little linguistic distance, like [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[German language|German]], are considered siblings. Dutch and German are siblings in the West-Germanic language group. Some language siblings are closer to each other in terms of linguistic distance than to other linguistic siblings. French and Spanish, siblings in the Romance Branch of the Indo-European group, are closer to each other than they are to any of the languages of the West-Germanic group.<ref name="Tang 709–732"/> When languages are close in terms of linguistic distance, they resemble one another, hence why dialects are not considered linguistically distant to their parent language.

=== Mutual intelligibility ===
One criterion, which is often considered to be purely linguistic, is that of [[mutual intelligibility]]: two varieties are said to be dialects of the same language if being a speaker of one variety has sufficient knowledge to understand and be understood by a speaker of the other dialect; otherwise, they are said to be different languages.<ref name="Comrie2018">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lR9WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT24|title=The World's Major Languages|last=Comrie|first=Bernard|publisher=Routledge|year=2018|isbn=978-1-317-29049-0|editor=Bernard Comrie|pages=2–3|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> However, this definition has often been criticized, especially in the case of a [[dialect continuum]] (or dialect chain), which contains a sequence of varieties, where each mutually intelligible with the next, but may not be mutually intelligible with distant varieties.<ref name="Comrie2018" />

Others have argued that mutual intelligibility occurs in varying degrees, and the potential difficulty in distinguishing between intelligibility and prior familiarity with the other variety. However, recent research suggests that there is some empirical evidence in favor of using some form of the intelligibility criterion to distinguish between languages and dialects,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Taking taxonomy seriously in linguistics: Intelligibility as a criterion of demarcation between languages and dialects |first=Marco | last=Tamburelli |journal=Lingua |year=2021 |volume=256 |page=103068 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2021.103068 |s2cid=233800051 |url=https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutputs/taking-taxonomy-seriously-in-linguistics-intelligibility-as-a-criterion-of-demarcation-between-languages-and-dialects(7e404197-2caf-420c-84c5-258b31df3297).html |language=en}}</ref> though mutuality may not be as relevant as initially thought. The requirement for mutuality is abandoned by the ''Language Survey Reference Guide'' of [[SIL International]], publishers of the ''[[Ethnologue]]'' and the [[registration authority]] for the [[ISO 639-3]] standard for [[language code]]s. They define a ''dialect cluster'' as a central variety together with all those varieties whose speakers understand the central variety at a specified threshold level or higher. If the threshold level is high, usually between 70% and 85%<!-- So over 85 %, same language, but different dialects? Under 70 % > different languages? -->, the cluster is designated as a ''language''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Language Survey Reference Guide |given=Joseph Evans |surname=Grimes |publisher=SIL International |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-88312-609-7 |page=17 }}</ref>{{Clarify|date=August 2023}}

=== Sociolinguistic definitions ===
[[File:West Germanic dialect diagram.svg|thumb|right|upright=2|Local varieties in the West Germanic dialect continuum are oriented towards either Standard Dutch or Standard German depending on which side of the border they are spoken.{{sfnp|Chambers|Trudgill|1998|p=10}}]]
Another occasionally used criterion for discriminating dialects from languages is the [[sociolinguistic]] notion of [[autonomy and heteronomy (sociolinguistics)|linguistic authority]]. According to this definition, two varieties are considered dialects of the same language if (under at least some circumstances) they would defer to the same authority regarding some questions about their language. For instance, to learn the name of a new invention, or an obscure foreign species of plant, speakers of [[Westphalian language|Westphalian]] and [[East Franconian German]] might each consult a German dictionary or ask a German-speaking expert in the subject. Thus these varieties are said to be dependent on, or [[autonomy and heteronomy (sociolinguistics)|heteronomous]] with respect to, [[Standard German]], which is said to be autonomous.{{sfnp|Chambers|Trudgill|1998|p=10}}

In contrast, speakers in the Netherlands of [[Dutch Low Saxon|Low Saxon]] varieties similar to Westphalian would instead consult a dictionary of [[Standard Dutch]], and hence is categorized as a dialect of Dutch instead. Similarly, although [[Yiddish]] is classified by linguists as a language in the [[High German]] group of languages and has some degree of mutual intelligibility with German, a Yiddish speaker would consult a Yiddish dictionary rather than a German dictionary in such a case, and is classified as its own language.

Within this framework, [[William Alexander Stewart|W. A. Stewart]] defined a ''language'' as an autonomous variety in addition to all the varieties that are heteronomous with respect to it, noting that an essentially equivalent definition had been stated by [[Charles A. Ferguson]] and [[John J. Gumperz]] in 1960.<ref name="Stewart">{{cite book
  | first = William A. | last = Stewart | author-link = William Alexander Stewart
  | chapter = A sociolinguistic typology for describing national multilingualism
  | pages = 531–545 | doi = 10.1515/9783110805376.531
  | editor-first = Joshua A. | editor-last = Fishman
  | title = Readings in the Sociology of Language
  | publisher = De Gruyter | year = 1968
  | isbn = 978-3-11-080537-6
}} p. 535.</ref><ref>{{cite book
  | chapter = Introduction | pages = 1–18
  | first1 = Charles A. | last1 = Ferguson | author-link1 = Charles A. Ferguson
  | first2 = John J. | last2 = Gumperz | author-link2 = John J. Gumperz
  | title = Linguistic Diversity in South Asia: Studies in Regional, Social, and Functional Variation
  | editor-first1 = Charles A. | editor-last1 = Ferguson
  | editor-first2 = John J. | editor-last2 = Gumperz
  | publisher = Indiana University, Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics
  | year = 1960
}} p. 5.</ref> A heteronomous variety may be considered a ''dialect'' of a language defined in this way.<ref name="Stewart" /> In these terms, [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], though mutually intelligible to a large degree, are considered separate languages.{{sfnp|Chambers|Trudgill|1998|p=11}} In the framework of [[Heinz Kloss]], these are described as languages by ''[[abstand and ausbau languages|ausbau]]'' (development) rather than by ''abstand'' (separation).<ref>{{cite journal
  | surname = Kloss | given = Heinz |  author-link = Heinz Kloss
  | title = 'Abstand languages' and 'ausbau languages'
  | journal = Anthropological Linguistics | volume = 9 | number = 7
  | year = 1967 | pages = 29–41
  | jstor = 30029461
}}</ref>

=== Dialect and language clusters ===
{{See also|Dialect continuum}}
In other situations, a closely related group of varieties possess considerable (though incomplete) mutual intelligibility, but none dominates the others. To describe this situation, the editors of the ''Handbook of African Languages'' introduced the term '''dialect cluster''' as a classificatory unit at the same level as a language.<ref>{{cite journal
  | title = A Handbook of African Languages
  | author = Handbook Sub-committee Committee of the International African Institute.
  | journal = Africa | volume = 16 | number = 3 | year = 1946 | pages = 156–159
  | doi = 10.2307/1156320
 | jstor = 1156320
| s2cid = 245909714
 }}</ref> A similar situation, but with a greater degree of mutual unintelligibility, has been termed a '''language cluster'''.<ref>{{cite journal
  | title = A provisional language map of Nigeria
  | given1 = Keir | surname1 = Hansford
  | given2 = John | surname2 = Bendor-Samuel
  | given3 = Ron | surname3 = Stanford
  | journal = Savanna | volume = 5 | number = 2 | year = 1976 | pages = 115–124
}} p. 118.</ref>

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 varieties be understood by speakers of the central variety or of other peripheral varieties. A minimal set of central varieties providing coverage of a dialect continuum may be selected algorithmically from intelligibility data.<ref>{{cite book |title=Language Survey Reference Guide |first=Joseph Evans |last=Grimes |publisher=SIL International |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-88312-609-7 |pages=17, 22 }}</ref>

=== Political factors ===
In many societies, however, a particular dialect, often the sociolect of the [[elite]] class, comes to be identified as the "standard" or "proper" version of a language by those seeking to make a social distinction and is contrasted with other varieties. As a result of this, in some contexts, the term "dialect" refers specifically to varieties with low [[social status]]. In this secondary sense of "dialect", language varieties are often called ''dialects'' rather than ''languages'':
* if they have no [[Standard variety|standard]] or [[Codification (linguistics)|codified]] form,
* if they are rarely or never used in writing (outside reported speech),
* if the speakers of the given language do not have a [[State (polity)|state]] of their own,
* if they lack [[prestige dialect|prestige]] with respect to some other, often standardised, variety.

The status of "language" is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. [[Romansh language|Romansh]] came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects and classical Latin. An opposite example is [[Chinese language|Chinese]], whose variations such as [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and [[Yue Chinese|Cantonese]] are often called dialects and not languages in China, despite their mutual unintelligibility.

National boundaries sometimes make the distinction between "language" and "dialect" an issue of political importance. A group speaking a separate "language" may be seen as having a greater claim to being a separate "people", and thus to be more deserving of its own independent state, while a group speaking a "dialect" may be seen as a sub-group, part of a bigger people, which must content itself with regional autonomy.<ref>Muljačić, Ž. (1997). The relationships between the dialect and the standard language. In M. Maiden, M. Maiden, & M. Parry (Eds.), The Dialects of Italy (1st ed.). essay, Routledge.</ref>{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

The [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] linguist [[Max Weinreich]] published the expression, ''A shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot'' ({{lang|yi|"אַ שפּראַך איז אַ דיאַלעקט מיט אַן אַרמײ און פֿלאָט"}}: "[[A language is a dialect with an army and navy]]") in ''YIVO Bleter'' 25.1, 1945, p.&nbsp;13. The significance of the political factors in any attempt at answering the question "what is a language?" is great enough to cast doubt on whether any strictly linguistic definition, without a socio-cultural approach, is possible. This is illustrated by the frequency with which the army-navy aphorism is cited.

=== Terminology<span class="anchor" id="languoid"></span> ===
By the definition most commonly used by linguists, any linguistic variety can be considered a "dialect" of ''some'' language—"everybody speaks a dialect". According to that interpretation, the criteria above merely serve to distinguish whether two varieties are dialects of the ''same'' language or dialects of ''different'' languages.

The terms "language" and "dialect" are not necessarily mutually exclusive, although they are often perceived to be.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/01/difference-between-language-dialect/424704/|title=There's No Such Thing as a 'Language'|last=McWhorter|first=John|date=2016-01-19|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref> Thus there is nothing contradictory in the statement "the ''language'' of the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] is a dialect of [[German (language)|German]]".

There are various terms that linguists may use to avoid taking a position on whether the speech of a community is an independent language in its own right or a dialect of another language. Perhaps the most common is "[[variety (linguistics)|variety]]";<ref name=finegan>{{cite book |title=Language: Its Structure and Use|edition=5th |last=Finegan |first=Edward |year=2007 |publisher= Thomson Wadsworth|location=Boston, MA|isbn=978-1-4130-3055-6 |page=348}}</ref> "[[lect]]" is another. A more general term is "'''languoid'''", which does not distinguish between dialects, languages, and groups of languages, whether genealogically related or not.<ref>[http://www.glottopedia.org/index.php/Languoid "Languoid"] at ''Glottopedia.com''</ref>

==Colloquial meaning of dialect==
The colloquial meaning of dialect can be understood by example, e.g. in [[Italy]]<ref name="auto3">«The often used term "Italian dialects" may create the false impression that the dialects are varieties of the standard Italian language.» Martin Maiden, M. Mair Parry (1997), The Dialects of Italy, Psychology Press, p. 2.</ref> (see ''[[:it:Dialetto|dialetto]]''<ref name="battaglia">«Parlata propria di un ambiente geografico e culturale ristretto (come la regione, la provincia, la città o anche il paese): contrapposta a un sistema linguistico affine per origine e sviluppo, ma che, per diverse ragioni (politiche, letterarie, geografiche, ecc.), si è imposto come lingua letteraria e ufficiale». Battaglia, Salvatore (1961). ''Grande dizionario della lingua italiana'', UTET, Torino, V. IV, pp. 321–322.</ref>), [[France]] (see ''[[:fr:patois|patois]]'') and the [[Philippines]],<ref name="auto">{{cite book |author=Peter G. Gowing, William Henry Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfjZAAAAMAAJ |title=Acculturation in the Philippines: Essays on Changing Societies. A Selection of Papers Presented at the Baguio Religious Acculturation Conferences from 1958 to 1968 |publisher=New Day Publishers |year=1971 |page=157}}</ref><ref name="maiden">{{cite book |last1=Maiden |first1=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Dz_LyQF_eAC&q=dialects+of+italy |title=The Dialects of Italy |last2=Parry |first2=Mair |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=9781134834365 |page=2}}</ref> carries a [[pejorative]] undertone and underlines the politically and [[Social stratification|socially subordinated]] status of a non-national language to the country's single official language. In other words, these "dialects" are not actual dialects in the same sense as in the first usage, as they do not derive from the politically dominant language and are therefore not one of its [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]], but instead they evolved in a separate and parallel way and may thus better fit various parties' criteria for a separate language.

Despite this, these "dialects" may often be historically [[cognate]] and share [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic roots]] in the same [[Language family|subfamily]] as the dominant national language and may even, to a varying degree, share some [[mutual intelligibility]] with the latter. In this sense, unlike in the first usage, the national language would not itself be considered a "dialect", as it is the dominant language in a particular state, be it in terms of [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|linguistic prestige]], social or political (e.g. [[official language|official]]) status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. The term "dialect" used this way implies a political connotation, being mostly used to refer to low-prestige languages (regardless of their actual degree of distance from the national language), languages lacking institutional support, or those perceived as "unsuitable for writing".<ref name="auto8">{{cite book |author=Defenders of the Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3oLAQAAMAAJ |title=Filipino is Not Our Language: Learn why it is Not and Find Out what it is |year=2007 |page=26}}</ref> The designation "dialect" is also used popularly to refer to the unwritten or non-codified languages of developing countries or isolated areas,<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto5"/> where the term "[[vernacular|vernacular language]]" would be preferred by linguists.<ref>{{cite journal |page=927 |title=Dialect, Language, Nation |first=Einar | last=Haugen |journal=American Anthropologist |series=''American Anthropologist'' New Series, Vol. 68, No. 4 |year=1966 |volume=68 |issue=4 |doi=10.1525/aa.1966.68.4.02a00040 |language=en |jstor= 670407|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Dialect and accent==
{{Expand section|date=October 2024}}
[[John Lyons (linguist)|John Lyons]] writes that "Many linguists [...] subsume differences of accent under differences of dialect."{{r|Lyons}} In general, ''[[accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]]'' refers to variations in pronunciation, while ''dialect'' also encompasses specific variations in [[grammar]] and [[vocabulary]].{{sfnp|Lyons|1981|p=268}}

==Examples==
{{see also|Mesoamerican languages#Language vs. dialect|l1=Mesoamerican languages § Language vs. dialect}}

=== Arabic ===
{{Main|Arabic}}
{{See also|Varieties of Arabic}}

There are three geographical zones in which Arabic is spoken (Jastrow 2002).<ref>{{Citation|title=50. Arabic Dialects (general article)|date=2011-12-21|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110251586.851|work=The Semitic Languages|pages=851–896|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|doi=10.1515/9783110251586.851|isbn=978-3-11-025158-6|access-date=2020-10-17|last1=Watson|first1=Janet C.E.}}</ref> Zone I is categorized as the area in which Arabic was spoken before the rise of Islam. It is the Arabian Peninsula, excluding the areas where southern Arabian was spoken. Zone II is categorized as the areas to which Arabic speaking peoples moved as a result of the conquests of Islam. Included in Zone II are the [[Levant]], [[Egypt]], [[North Africa]], [[Iraq]], and some parts of [[Iran]]. The Egyptian, Sudanese, and Levantine dialects (including the Syrian dialect) are well documented, and widely spoken and studied. Zone III comprises the areas in which Arabic is spoken outside of the continuous Arabic Language area.

Spoken dialects of the [[Arabic Language|Arabic language]] share the same writing system and share [[Modern Standard Arabic]] as their common prestige dialect used in writing.

=== German ===
{{See also|German dialects}}
When talking about the German language, the term [[German dialects]] is only used for the traditional regional varieties. That allows them to be distinguished from the regional varieties of modern standard German. The German dialects show a wide spectrum of variation. Some of them are not mutually intelligible. [[German dialectology]] traditionally names the major dialect groups after [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] from which they were assumed to have descended.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cutewriters.com/german-language-dialect-variations/|title=From dialect to variation space|last=Danvas|first=Kegesa|date=2016|website=Cutewriters|publisher=Cutewriters Inc.|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref>

The extent to which the dialects are spoken varies according to a number of factors: In Northern Germany, dialects are less common than in the South. In cities, dialects are less common than in the countryside. In a public environment, dialects are less common than in a familiar environment.

The situation in [[Switzerland]] and [[Liechtenstein]] is different from the rest of the German-speaking countries. The [[Swiss German]] dialects are the default everyday language in virtually every situation, whereas standard German is only spoken in education, partially in media, and with foreigners not possessing knowledge of Swiss German. Most Swiss German speakers perceive standard German to be a foreign language.

The [[Low German]] and [[Low Franconian languages|Low Franconian]] varieties spoken in Germany are often counted among the German dialects. This reflects the modern situation where they are [[Dachsprache|roofed]] by standard German. This is different from the situation in the [[Middle Ages]] when Low German had strong tendencies towards an [[ausbau language]].

The [[Frisian languages]] spoken in Germany and the Netherlands are excluded from the German dialects.

===Italy===
{{main|Languages of Italy|Regional Italian}}
Italy is an often quoted example of a country where the second definition of the word "dialect" (''dialetto''<ref name="battaglia" />) is most prevalent. Italy is in fact home to a [[Languages of Italy|vast array of separate languages]], most of which lack [[mutual intelligibility]] with one another and have their own local varieties; twelve of them ([[Arberesh language|Albanian]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[German language|German]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Slovene language|Slovene]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[French language|French]], [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]], [[Friulian language|Friulian]], [[Ladin language|Ladin]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]) underwent [[Italianization]] to a varying degree (ranging from the currently [[Endangered language|endangered state]] displayed by Sardinian and [[Southern Italy|southern Italian]] Greek to the vigorous promotion of Germanic [[South Tyrolean dialect|Tyrolean]]), but have been officially recognized as [[Languages of Italy#Historical linguistic minorities|minority languages]] (''minoranze linguistiche storiche''), in light of their distinctive historical development. Yet, most of the [[regional language]]s spoken across the peninsula are often colloquially referred to in non-linguistic circles as Italian ''dialetti'', since most of them, including the prestigious [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]], [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and [[Venetian language|Venetian]], have adopted [[Vernacular|vulgar]] [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] as their [[Abstand and ausbau languages|reference language]] since the [[Middle Ages]]. However, all these languages evolved from [[Vulgar Latin]] in parallel with Italian, long prior to the popular diffusion of the latter throughout what is now [[Italy]].<ref name="Cerrato">{{cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/magazine/chiasmo/lettere_e_arti/1_identita_ssas_lingua_italiano.html|title=Che lingua parla un italiano?|publisher=Treccani.it|author=Domenico Cerrato}}</ref>

During the ''[[Risorgimento]]'', Italian still existed mainly as a literary language, and only 2.5% of Italy's population could speak Italian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ita |title=Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition |publisher=Ethnologue.com |access-date=2010-04-21}}</ref> Proponents of [[Italian nationalism]], like the Lombard [[Alessandro Manzoni]], stressed the importance of establishing a uniform [[national language]] in order to better create an Italian [[national identity]].<ref>An often quoted paradigm of Italian nationalism is the ode on the [[Revolutions of 1820|Piedmontese revolution of 1821]] ([https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Marzo_1821 ''Marzo 1821'']), wherein the Italian people are portrayed by Manzoni as "one by military prowess, by language, by religion, by history, by blood, and by sentiment".</ref> With the [[unification of Italy]] in the 1860s, Italian became the official national language of the new Italian state, while the other ones came to be institutionally regarded as "dialects" subordinate to Italian, and negatively associated with a lack of education.

In the early 20th century, the [[conscription]] of Italian men from all throughout Italy during [[World War I]] is credited with having facilitated the diffusion of Italian among the less educated conscripted soldiers, as these men, who had been speaking various regional languages up until then, found themselves forced to communicate with each other in a common tongue while serving in the Italian military. With the popular spread of Italian out of the intellectual circles, because of the mass-media and the establishment of [[public education]], Italians from all regions were increasingly exposed to Italian.<ref name="Cerrato" /> While [[dialect levelling]] has increased the number of Italian speakers and decreased the number of speakers of other languages native to Italy, Italians in different regions have developed variations of standard Italian specific to their region. These variations of standard Italian, known as "[[regional Italian]]", would thus more appropriately be called dialects in accordance with the first linguistic definition of the term, as they are in fact derived from Italian,<ref>{{cite book| last= Loporcaro | first= Michele | year= 2009 | title= Profilo linguistico dei dialetti italiani | location= Bari | publisher= Laterza | language=it }}; {{cite book | last= Marcato | first= Carla | year= 2007 | title= Dialetto, dialetti e italiano | location= Bologna | publisher= Il Mulino | language=it}}; {{cite book| last= Posner | first= Rebecca | year= 1996 | title= The Romance languages | location= Cambridge | publisher= Cambridge University Press }}</ref><ref name=maiden/><ref name=repetti>{{cite book |last=Repetti |first=Lori |title=Phonological Theory and the Dialects of Italy|date=2000|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=9027237190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z1f5fIrtw58C&q=dialects+of+italy}}</ref> with some degree of influence from the local or regional native languages and accents.<ref name="Cerrato" />

The most widely spoken languages of Italy, which are not to be confused with regional Italian, fall within a family of which even Italian is part, the [[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian group]]. This wide category includes:
* the complex of the [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] and [[Central Italian|Central Italian dialects]], such as [[Romanesco dialect|Romanesco]] in [[Rome]], with the addition of some distantly [[Corsican language|Corsican]]-derived varieties ([[Gallurese dialect|Gallurese]] and [[Sassarese language|Sassarese]]) spoken in Northern [[Sardinia]];
* the [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan group]] (also known as "Intermediate Meridional Italian"), which encompasses not only [[Naples]]' and [[Campania]]'s speech but also a variety of related neighboring varieties like the [[Irpinian dialect]], [[Abruzzo|Abruzzese]] and Southern [[Marche]]giano, [[Molisan]], [[Calabrian language#Northern Calabrian (Cosentino)|Northern Calabrian or Cosentino]], and the [[Bari dialect]]. The [[Cilentan dialect]] of [[Salerno]], in [[Campania]], is considered significantly influenced by the Neapolitan and the below-mentioned language groups;
* the [[Sicilian language|Sicilian group]] (also known as "Extreme Meridional Italian"), including [[Salentino dialect|Salentino]] and centro-southern [[Calabrian languages|Calabrian]].
Modern Italian is heavily based on the [[Florentine dialect]] of [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]].<ref name="Cerrato" /> The Tuscan-based language that would eventually become modern Italian had been used in poetry and literature since at least the [[12th century]], and it first spread outside the Tuscan linguistic borders through the works of the so-called ''tre corone'' ("three crowns"): [[Dante Alighieri]], [[Petrarch]], and [[Giovanni Boccaccio]]. Florentine thus gradually rose to prominence as the ''volgare'' of the [[literate]] and [[upper class]] in Italy, and it spread throughout the peninsula and Sicily as the ''[[lingua franca]]'' among the Italian [[educated]] class as well as Italian travelling merchants. The economic prowess and cultural and artistic importance of [[Tuscany]] in the [[Late Middle Ages]] and the [[Renaissance]] further encouraged the diffusion of the Florentine-Tuscan Italian throughout Italy and among the educated and powerful, though local and regional languages remained the main languages of the common people.

Aside from the [[Italo-Dalmatian languages]], the second most widespread family in Italy is the [[Gallo-Italic languages|Gallo-Italic group]], spanning throughout much of [[Northern Italy]]'s languages and dialects (such as [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]], [[Emilian-Romagnol language|Emilian-Romagnol]], [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]], [[Lombard language|Lombard]], [[Venetian language|Venetian]], [[Gallo-Italic of Sicily|Sicily's]] and [[Gallo-Italic of Basilicata|Basilicata's]] Gallo-Italic in [[southern Italy]], etc.).

Finally, other languages from a number of different families follow the last two major groups: the [[Gallo-Romance languages]] ([[French language|French]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and its [[Vivaro-Alpine dialect]], [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]]); the [[Rhaeto-Romance languages]] ([[Friulian language|Friulian]] and [[Ladin language|Ladin]]); the [[Ibero-Romance languages]] ([[Sardinia]]'s [[Algherese dialect|Algherese]]); the [[Germanic language|Germanic]] [[Cimbrian language|Cimbrian]], [[Southern Bavarian]], [[Walser German]] and the [[Mòcheno language]]; the [[Albanian language|Albanian]] [[Arbëresh language]]; the [[Hellenic language|Hellenic]] [[Griko language]] and [[Calabrian Greek]]; the [[Serbo-Croatian]] [[Slavomolisano dialect]]; and the various [[Slovene language]]s, including the [[Gail Valley dialect]] and [[Istrian dialect]]. The [[Sardinian language|language indigenous to Sardinia]], while being Romance in nature, is considered to be a [[Southern Romance|specific linguistic family]] of its own, separate from the other Neo-Latin groups; it is often subdivided into the [[Campidanese Sardinian|Centro-Southern]] and [[Logudorese dialect|Centro-Northern]] dialects.

Though mostly mutually unintelligible, the exact degree to which all the Italian languages are mutually unintelligible varies, often correlating with geographical distance or geographical barriers between the languages; some regional Italian languages that are closer in geographical proximity to each other or closer to each other on the [[dialect continuum]] are more or less mutually intelligible. For instance, a speaker of purely [[Eastern Lombard dialects|Eastern Lombard]], a language in [[Northern Italy]]'s [[Lombardy|Lombardy region]] that includes the [[Bergamasque dialect]], would have severely limited mutual intelligibility with a purely Italian speaker and would be nearly completely unintelligible to a [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]-speaking individual. Due to Eastern Lombard's status as a Gallo-Italic language, an Eastern Lombard speaker may, in fact, have more mutual intelligibility with an Occitan, [[Catalan language|Catalan]], or French speaker than with an Italian or Sicilian speaker. Meanwhile, a Sicilian-speaking person would have a greater degree of mutual intelligibility with a speaker of the more closely related Neapolitan language, but far less mutual intelligibility with a person speaking Sicilian Gallo-Italic, a language that developed in isolated Lombard emigrant communities on the same island as the Sicilian language.

Today, the majority of Italian nationals are able to speak Italian, though many Italians still speak their regional language regularly or as their primary day-to-day language, especially at home with family or when communicating with Italians from the same town or region.

=== The Balkans ===
The classification of speech varieties as dialects or languages and their relationship to other varieties of speech can be controversial and the verdicts inconsistent. [[Serbo-Croatian language|Serbo-Croatian]] illustrates this point. Serbo-Croatian has two major formal variants ([[Serbian language|Serbian]] and [[Croatian language|Croatian]]). Both are based on the ''[[Shtokavian]]'' dialect and therefore mutually intelligible with differences found mostly in their respective local vocabularies and minor grammatical differences. Certain dialects of Serbia (''[[Torlakian]]'') and Croatia (''[[Kajkavian]]'' and ''[[Chakavian]]''), however, are not mutually intelligible even though they are usually subsumed under Serbo-Croatian. How these dialects should be classified in relation to Shtokavian remains a matter of dispute.

[[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], which is largely mutually intelligible with [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and certain dialects of Serbo-Croatian ([[Torlakian dialect|Torlakian]]), is considered by Bulgarian linguists to be a Bulgarian dialect, while in [[North Macedonia]], it is regarded as a language in its own right. Before the establishment of a literary standard of Macedonian in 1944, in most sources in and out of Bulgaria before the Second World War, the South Slavic dialect continuum covering the area of today's North Macedonia were referred to as [[Bulgarian language#Relationship to Macedonian|Bulgarian dialects]]. Sociolinguists agree that the question of whether Macedonian is a dialect of Bulgarian or a language is a political one and cannot be resolved on a purely linguistic basis.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chambers| first1=Jack |last2=Trudgill| first2=Peter| title=Dialectology|url=https://archive.org/details/dialectology00cham_601|url-access=limited| year=1998| publisher=Cambridge University Press| edition=2nd| page=[https://archive.org/details/dialectology00cham_601/page/n21 7]| quote =Similarly, Bulgarian politicians often argue that Macedonian is simply a dialect of Bulgarian – which is really a way of saying, of course, that they feel Macedonia ought to be part of Bulgaria. From a purely linguistic point of view, however, such arguments are not resolvable, since dialect continua admit of more-or-less but not either-or judgements.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Macedonian conflict: ethnic nationalism in a transnational world|first=Loring M.|last=Danforth|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0691043562| pages=67|quote=Sociolinguists agree that in such situations the decision as to whether a particular variety of speech constitutes a language or a dialect is always based on political, rather than linguistic criteria (Trudgill 1974:15). A language, in other words, can be defined "as a dialect with an army and a navy" (Nash 1989:6).}}</ref>

===Lebanon===
{{See also|Lebanese Arabic}}
In [[Lebanon]], a part of the Christian population considers "Lebanese" to be in some sense a distinct language from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and not merely a dialect thereof. During the [[Lebanese civil war|civil war]], Christians often used Lebanese Arabic officially, and sporadically used the [[Latin script]] to write Lebanese, thus further distinguishing it from Arabic.<!-- Are languages defined by their spelling systems?  --> All Lebanese laws are written in the standard literary form of Arabic, though parliamentary debate may be conducted in Lebanese Arabic.
===Malay===
{{See also|Malay language|Malay dialects and varieties}}
[[Malay language|Malay]] has a long history as a [[lingua franca]] ([[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] and [[Malay language|Malay]]: ''basantara'') in the [[Malay Archipelago]] which currently includes [[Indonesia]], [[Philippines]], [[Malaysia]], [[Brunei Darussalam]], [[Singapore]], [[East Timor]], and the southern part of [[Thailand]]. This geographical variation, which then spread widely even to [[South Africa]], finally led to the formation of a Malay language cluster which spread and had differences due to geographical conditions.<ref name="Ikram">Ikram, A. 2008. [http://melayuonline.com/article/?a=bW1tL3FMZVZBUkU4Ng%3D%3D=&l=bahasa-melayu-penyebar-budaya Bahasa Melayu penyebar budaya. Naskah-naskah sebagai saksi persebaran bahasa]. Jurnal ATL (in Indonesian). '''1'''. Accessed from the ''Malayu Online'' page on 2009-05-06.</ref>

The Malay language is [[pluricentric]] and a [[ISO 639 macrolanguage|macrolanguage]], i.e., several varieties of it are standardized as the national language ({{lang|ms|bahasa kebangsaan}} or {{lang|ms|bahasa nasional}}) of several nation states with various official names: in Malaysia, it is designated as either {{lang|ms|bahasa Malaysia}}<!-- vide Asmah (1992), pp. 403-4 --> ("[[Malaysian Malay|Malaysian]]") or also {{lang|ms|bahasa Melayu}} ("Malay language"); in Singapore and Brunei, it is called {{lang|ms|bahasa Melayu}} ("Malay language"); in Indonesia, an autonomous normative variety called {{lang|id|bahasa Indonesia}} ("[[Indonesian language]]") is designated the {{lang|id|bahasa persatuan/pemersatu}} ("unifying language" or [[lingua franca]]) whereas the term "Malay" ({{lang|id|bahasa Melayu}}) is domestically restricted to vernacular varieties of Malay indigenous to areas of Central to Southern [[Sumatra]] and [[West Kalimantan]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Asmah Haji Omar |title=Malay as a pluricentric language Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations |publisher=Mouton de Gruyte |year=1992 |isbn=3-11-012855-1 |editor-last=Clyne |editor-first=Michael J. |editor-link=Michael Clyne |location=Berlin & New York |pages=403–4 |chapter=Malay as a pluricentric language |author-link=Asmah Haji Omar}}</ref>{{efn|group=lower-roman|Since the standardized varieties of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore are structurally largely identical and mostly differ in lexicon and to a lesser degree in phonetic details, the umbrella terms "Malay/Indonesian"<ref name=Blust>{{cite book |last=Blust |first=Robert |title=The Austronesian Languages |edition=revised|publisher=Australian National University|year=2013|isbn=978-1-922185-07-5|hdl=1885/10191}}</ref> or "Malay-Indonesian"<ref>{{cite book |last=Tadmor |first=Uri |year=2009 |chapter=Malay-Indonesian |editor=Bernard Comrie |title=The World's Major Languages |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=791–818}}</ref> are often used in the linguistic literature when discussing the structure or history of the language.}}

===North Africa===
{{See also|Maghrebi Arabic}}
In Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, the [[Darija]]s translated as literally meaning Dialect in Arabic (spoken North African languages) are sometimes considered more different from other Arabic dialects. Officially, North African countries prefer to give preference to the [[Modern Standard Arabic|Literary Arabic]] and conduct much of their political and religious life in it (adherence to [[Islam]]), and refrain from declaring each country's specific variety to be a separate language, because Literary Arabic is the [[liturgical language]] of Islam and the language of the Islamic sacred book, the [[Qur'an]]. Although, especially since the 1960s, the Darijas are occupying an increasing use and influence in the cultural life of these countries. Examples of cultural elements where Darijas' use became dominant include: theatre, film, music, television, advertisement, social media, folk-tale books and companies' names.

===Ukraine===
[[File:Книга буття українського народу.jpg|thumb|[[Books of the Genesis of the Ukrainian People|The Books of Genesis of the Ukrainian Nation]] by [[Mykola Kostomarov]]]]
The [[Modern Ukrainian language]] has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]]. In the 19th century, the [[Tsar]]ist Government of the [[Russian Empire]] claimed that [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] (or Little Russian, per official name) was merely a dialect of [[Russian language|Russian]] (or Polonized dialect) and not a language on its own (same concept as for [[Belarusian language]]). That concepted was enrooted soon after the [[partitions of Poland]]. According to these claims, the differences were few and caused by the conquest of western Ukraine by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in reality the dialects in Ukraine were developing independently from the dialects in the modern Russia for several centuries, and as a result they differed substantially.

Following the [[Spring of Nations]] in Europe and efforts of the [[Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius]], across the so-called "Southwestern Krai" of Russian Empire started to spread cultural societies of [[Hromada (secret society)|Hromada]] and their Sunday schools. Themselves "hromadas" acted in same manner as [[Orthodox brotherhood|Orthodox fraternities]] of [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] back in 15th century. Around that time in Ukraine becoming popular political movements Narodnichestvo ([[Narodniks]]) and [[Khlopomanstvo]].

===Moldova===
There have been cases of a variety of speech being deliberately reclassified to serve political purposes. One example is [[Moldovan language|Moldovan]]. In 1996, the [[Parliament of Moldova|Moldovan Parliament]], citing fears of "Romanian expansionism", rejected a proposal from [[President of Moldova|President]] [[Mircea Snegur]] to change the name of the language to Romanian, and in 2003 a [[Moldovan–Romanian dictionary]] was published, purporting to show that the two countries speak different languages. Linguists of the [[Romanian Academy]] reacted by declaring that all the Moldovan words were also Romanian words; while in Moldova, the head of the [[Academy of Sciences of Moldova]], Ion Bărbuţă, described the dictionary as a politically motivated "absurdity". On 22 March 2023, the [[president of Moldova]], [[Maia Sandu]], promulgated a law passed by Parliament that named the [[national language]] as ''Romanian'' in all legislative texts and the [[Constitution of Moldova (1994)|constitution]].<ref>{{cite news  | title = Președinta Maia Sandu a promulgat Legea care confirmă că limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este cea română  | publisher = Presidency of the Republic of Moldova  | quote = Astăzi am promulgat Legea care confirmă un adevăr istoric și incontestabil: limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este cea română.  | trans-quote = Today I have promulgated the law that confirms a historical and indisputable truth: the state language of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian.  | language = ro  | url = https://presedinte.md/rom/comunicate-de-presa/presedinta-maia-sandu-a-promulgat-legea-care-confirma-ca-limba-de-stat-a-republicii-moldova-este-cea-romna}}</ref>

===Greater China===
{{Main|Varieties of Chinese#Classification}}
Unlike languages that use alphabets to indicate their pronunciation, [[Chinese characters]] have developed from [[logograms]] that do not always give hints to their pronunciation. Although the written characters have remained relatively consistent for the last two thousand years, the pronunciation and grammar in different regions have developed to an extent that the [[Varieties of Chinese|varieties of the spoken language]] are often mutually unintelligible. As a series of migration to the south throughout the history, the regional languages of the south, including [[Gan Chinese|Gan]], [[Xiang Chinese|Xiang]], [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], [[Min Chinese|Min]], [[Yue Chinese|Yue]] and [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] often show traces of [[Old Chinese]] or [[Middle Chinese]].

From the [[Ming dynasty]] onward, Beijing has been the capital of China and the dialect spoken in Beijing has had the most prestige among other varieties. With the founding of the [[Republic of China (1912–49)|Republic of China]], [[Standard Mandarin]] was designated as the official language, based on the spoken language of Beijing. Since then, other spoken varieties are regarded as ''fangyan'' (regional speech). [[Cantonese]] is still the most commonly-used language in [[Guangzhou]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Macau]] and among some overseas Chinese communities, whereas [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Hokkien]] has been accepted in [[Taiwan]] as an important local language alongside [[Taiwanese Mandarin|Mandarin]]. Then starting in the 1950s, the [[written Chinese|written language]] also diverged when the [[People's Republic of China]] introduced [[simplified characters]], which are now used throughout the country. [[Traditional characters]] are still the norm in Taiwan and some other overseas communities.

=== Hindi and Urdu ===
{{Main|Hindustani language}}
{{See also|Hindi belt|Hindi-Urdu controversy}}

[[Hindi]] is one of the official languages of [[India]], alongside [[English language|English]], and an official language in [[Languages with legal status in India|nine states]] (including [[Gujarat]], where [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] is the most spoken language). [[Urdu]] is the national and official language of [[Pakistan]], as well as being an additional official language in 5 states of India (3 of the 8 Hindi speaking states plus [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Telangana]]). While it is the second language for most Pakistanis (outside of [[Muhajir (Pakistan)|muhajirs]] who immigrated during [[Partition of India|partition]] and their descendants) in favor of languages like [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], it is the first language of most [[Indian Muslims]] in [[North India]] and the [[Deccan Plateau]].

The two languages in their colloquially spoken form are mutually intelligible, but in written form, Hindi uses the [[Devanagari]] script while Urdu uses the [[Perso-Arabic]] script. For formal vocabulary, the two languages diverge, with Hindi drawing more from [[Sanskrit]] and Urdu more from [[Persian language|Persian]] or [[Arabic]]. 

In addition, several other dialects or languages are classified under Hindi that did not descend from it. Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on [[Khari Boli]], the dialect spoken around [[Delhi]]. Other dialects with high mutual intelligibility spoken in surrounding areas include [[Haryanvi]] and languages from Western [[Uttar Pradesh]], like [[Braj Bhasha]]. But many languages less similar to Standard Hindi do not have official status under the [[8th Schedule to the Constitution of India]] and are instead classified as dialects of Hindi.<ref>{{cite web|title=Constitution of India, Eighth schedule|url=https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/Eighth_Schedule.pdf|publisher=[[Government of India]]|access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref> This includes [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], spoken in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and [[Bihar]], which does not have official status in either state or in the 8th Schedule, despite being spoken by over 50 million people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihar/mahagathbandhan-demands-official-language-status-for-bhojpuri-in-bihar/article68748414.ece|title=Mahagathbandhan demands 'official language' status for Bhojpuri in Bihar|date=13 October 2024|website=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> But over time, more languages have been recognized as distinct from Hindi. [[Maithili language|Maithili]] was made a scheduled language of India in 2003, and [[Chhattisgarhi]] was made official in [[Chhattisgarh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://linguistics.illinois.edu/languages/hindi/about-hindi|website=[[UIUC]]|title=About Hindi|access-date=2024-10-20}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Accent perception]]
* [[Chronolect]]
* [[Colloquialism]]
* [[Creole language]]
* [[Dialect levelling]]
* [[Dialectology]]
* [[Dialectometry]]
* [[Ethnolect]]
* [[Eye dialect]]
* [[Idiolect]]
* [[Isogloss]]
* [[Koiné language]]
* [[Register (sociolinguistics)]]
* [[Literary language]]
* [[Nation language]]
* [[Regional language]]
* [[Sprachbund]]
{{Div col end}}

=== Selected list of articles on dialects ===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Varieties of Arabic]]
* [[Bengali dialects]]
* [[Catalan dialects]]
* [[Varieties of Chinese]]
* [[Cypriot Greek]]
* [[Cypriot Turkish]]
* [[Danish dialects]]
* [[Dutch dialects]]
* [[English dialects]]
* [[Finnish dialects]]
* [[Varieties of French]]
* [[Georgian dialects]]
* [[German dialects]]
* [[Malayalam languages]]
* [[Malayan languages|Varieties of Malay]]
* [[Connacht Irish]], [[Munster Irish]], [[Ulster Irish]]
* [[Regional Italian|Italian dialects]]
* [[Japanese dialects]]
* [[Korean dialects]]
* [[Norwegian dialects]]
* [[Nguni languages]]
* [[Dialects of Polish]]
* [[Portuguese dialects]]
* [[Romanian dialects]]
* [[Russian dialects]]
* [[Slavic microlanguages]]
* [[Slovenian dialects]]
* [[Spanish dialects]]
* [[Swedish dialects]]
* [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects]]
* [[Yiddish dialects]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/soundsfamiliar Sounds Familiar?] – Listen to regional accents and dialects of the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
* [http://web.ku.edu/idea/ International Dialects of English Archive Since 1997]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181224033902/http://www.thedialectdictionary.com/ thedialectdictionary.com] – Compilation of Dialects from around the globe
* [http://www.unii.ac.jp/~chitsuko/english/index.html A site for announcements and downloading the SEAL System]
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Dialect |volume=8 |pages=155–156 |short=1}}

{{Language varieties}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dialects| ]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Language varieties and styles]]
[[Category:Lexicology]]
[[Category:Linguistics terminology]]