dialect

noun, often attributive

di·a·lect | \ ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt

Definition of dialect

1 linguistics

a : a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language the Doric dialect of ancient Greek a dialect of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong

b : one of two or more cognate (see cognate entry 1 sense 3a) languages French and Italian are Romance dialects

c : a variety of a language used by the members of a group such dialects as politics and advertising —Philip Howard

d : a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (such as social class) spoke a rough peasant dialect

e : register sense 4c

f : a version of a computer programming language

2 : manner or means of expressing oneself : phraseology

Other Words from dialect Synonyms Dialectic: Logic through Conversation Example Sentences Learn More about dialect

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Dialectic: Logic through Conversation

Dialectic is a term used in philosophy, and the fact that it is closely connected to the ideas of Socrates and Plato is completely logical—even from an etymological point of view. Plato’s famous dialogues frequently presented Socrates playing a leading role, and dialogue comes from the Greek roots dia- (“through” or “across”) and -logue (“discourse” or “talk”). Dialect and dialectic come from dialecktos (“conversation” or “dialect”) and ultimately back to the Greek word dialegesthai, meaning “to converse.”

Conversation or dialogue was indeed at the heart of the “Socratic method,” through which Socrates would ask probing questions which cumulatively revealed his students’ unsupported assumptions and misconceptions. The goal, according to the definition in our Unabridged Dictionary, was to “elicit a clear and consistent expression of something supposed to be implicitly known by all rational beings.”

Other philosophers had specific uses of the term dialectic, including Aristotelianism, Stoicism, Kantianism, Hegelianism, and Marxism. Asking a series of questions was considered by Socrates a method of “giving birth” to the truth, and a related word, maieutic, defined as “relating to or resembling the Socratic method of eliciting new ideas from another,” comes from the Greek word meaning “of midwifery.”

Examples of dialect in a Sentence

They speak a southern dialect of French. The author uses dialect in his writing. The play was hard to understand when the characters spoke in dialect.

Recent Examples on the Web

About to retire, Blocker, who over the years has learned Yellow Hawk’s Northern Cheyenne dialect, is given one last assignment — very much against his will. — Kenneth Turan, Detroit Free Press, "Review: ‘Hostiles’ continues the Western renaissance," 5 Jan. 2018 Sun Juong much preferred her own Northwestern dialect of P'yŏng'an. — Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com, "Algren Award runner-up: "Most Best Happy Korean Bright Star" by Michelle Massie," 2 June 2018 The lack of effort in keeping the dialect in the captioning throughout the series [disappointed me]. — Ace Ratcliff, SELF, "I Rely On Closed Captions to Enjoy a Show And I Don't Appreciate Netflix's Way of Censoring Them," 10 July 2018 At the festival, the Dinkjian performance will include a dialect that Armenians once spoke in his grandparents’ hometown. — Max Kutner, Smithsonian, "These Soulful, Soothing Armenian Song and Instrumentals Blend East with West," 28 June 2018 Ambitiously, the dialogue slips in and out of multiple languages (the program lists a dozen translators and five accent and dialect coaches), but the scrolling supertitles are clunky and not well placed. — New York Times, "Review: In ‘Assembled Identity,’ They Laugh Alike, They Walk Alike, but They’re Not Twins," 2 May 2018 Significant sections of the film are spoken in the native dialect with subtitles. — Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, "Why 'Skyscraper' Director Will Never Make a Sequel to His Cult Classic 'Dodgeball'," 13 July 2018 What the pupil needs to learn is the dialect of a tribe. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, "Gus Van Sant’s Semi-Surreal “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”," 13 July 2018 American English is meant to grow wild and woolly on our shores, spawning dialects and pidgins, wantonly consuming foreign words and locutions, anarchically legitimizing slang and warped grammar. — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, "The Delicate Art of Creating New Emoji," 28 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dialect.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.