The Open Atlas Blog

Think about the word 'dialect' for a moment. From a linguistic perspective, the term is pretty bland. Usually, linguist use to refer to a variety of language spoken in a particular area and/or by a particular group of people. It's worth noting that by that same definition, the standard or prescribed form a given language is also one of its dialects.  Okay, that's how linguists see it, now let's think about the word dialect in the way that non-linguists use it. This is where things get a bit more hairy If you spend a lot of time with English speakers, you'll notice that there's a specific way the word is used. It's fine to talk about the different dialects of German, Thai or Arabic. Using the word to refer to varieties of English however will get you looks. Few people mention the Louisiana or Glaswegian dialects of English. Even if a given variety has a different grammar and syntax,  Anglophones generally prefer the term "accent." For r