Dialect

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dialect \Di"a*lect\, n. [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. ?,
     fr. ? to converse, discourse. See {Dialogue}.]
     1. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue;
        form of speech.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              This book is writ in such a dialect
              As may the minds of listless men affect.
              Bunyan.
              The universal dialect of the world.   --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The form of speech of a limited region or people, as
        distinguished from ether forms nearly related to it; a
        variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized
        by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the
        Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire
        dialect; the dialect of the learned.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              In the midst of this Babel of dialects there
              suddenly appeared a standard English language.
                                                    --Earle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              [Charles V.] could address his subjects from every
              quarter in their native dialect.      --Prescott.
  
     Syn: Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See
          {Language}, and {Idiom}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dialect
       n : the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific
           group of people; "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of
           English"; "he has a strong German accent" [syn: {idiom},
           {accent}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  74 Moby Thesaurus words for "dialect":
     Acadian, Anglo-Indian, Brooklynese, Cajun, Canadian French,
     Cockney, French Canadian, Gullah, Midland, Midland dialect,
     New England dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch, Yankee, Yorkshire, accent,
     argot, brogue, bundle of isoglosses, burr, cant, choice of words,
     class dialect, composition, dialect atlas, dialect dictionary,
     dialectal, diction, expression, formulation, grammar, idiom,
     idiomatic, isogloss, jargon, language, langue, lingo, lingua,
     linguistic atlas, linguistic community, linguistic island, local,
     local dialect, localism, locution, parlance, parole, patois,
     patter, personal usage, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, pidgin,
     pronunciation, provincial, provincialism, regional,
     regional accent, regionalism, rhetoric, slang, speech,
     speech community, subdialect, talk, tongue, usage, use of words,
     usus loquendi, verbiage, vernacular, wordage, wording