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Book: The Five-Minute Linguist

Chapter: 3. What's the Difference between Dialects and Languages?

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.38122

Blurb:

While there is no generally agreed-upon way to distinguish between a ‘language’ and a ‘dialect', language can mean the generally accepted standard (the variety sanctioned by the government and/or the media), while dialects are versions of the standard that vary from region to region. Language varieties tend to be labeled dialects rather than languages for non-linguistic reasons, usually political or ideological.

Chapter Contributors

  • G. Tucker Childs (childst@pdx.edu - gchilds) 'Portland State University'