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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Dialect \Di"a*lect\, noun [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to converse, discourse. See {Dialogue}.]
1. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue; form of speech.
This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal dialect of the world. --South.
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.
In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a standard English language. --Earle.
[Charles V.] could address his subjects from every quarter in their native dialect. --Prescott.
Syn: Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See {Language}, and {Idiom}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
dialect
noun: 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
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