What is the difference between dialect and idiom?
dialect | idiom |
(linguistics) A variety of a language (specifically, often a spoken variety) that is characteristic of a particular area, community or group, often with relatively minor differences in vocabulary, style, spelling and pronunciation.
* A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.
*
A dialect of a language perceived as substandard and wrong.
* 1967 , Roger W. Shuy, Discovering American dialects , National Council of Teachers of English, page 1:
* 1975 , Linguistic perspectives on black English , H. Carl, page 219:
* 1994 , H. Nigel Thomas, Spirits in the dark , Heinemann, page 11:
A language.
A variant of a non-standardized programming language.
A manner of speaking, a way of expressing oneself.
A language or dialect.
Specifically, a particular variety of language; a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context etc.
* 2010 , (Christopher Hitchens), "The Other'' L-Word", ''Vanity Fair , 13 Jan 2010:
An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.
An expression peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language, especially when the meaning is illogical or separate from the meanings of its component words.
* 2008 , Patricia Hampl, “You’re History”, in Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May (editors), Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life , Minnesota Historical Society, ISBN 9780873516303,
(programming) A programming construct or phraseology generally held to be the most efficient, elegant or effective means to achieve a particular result or behavior.
* {{quote-book, 2005, Magnus Lie Hetland, Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional, page=100, isbn=159059519X
, passage=I have to use the same assignment and call to raw_input in two places. How can I avoid that? I can use the while True/break idiom :
As nouns the difference between dialect and idiom
is that dialect is a variety of a language (specifically, often a spoken variety) that is characteristic of a particular area, community or group, often with relatively minor differences in vocabulary, style, spelling and pronunciation while idiom is a manner of speaking, a way of expressing oneself.dialect
English
(wikipedia dialect)Noun
(en noun)- And in addition, many dialects of English make no morphological distinction between Adjectives and Adverbs, and thus use Adjectives in contexts where the standard language requires -ly'' Adverbs: compare
(81) (a) Tex talks ''really quickly'' [Adverb + Adverb]
(b) %Tex talks ''real quick [Adjective + Adjective]
- Many even deny it and say something like this: "No, we don't speak a dialect around here.
[...]
- Well, those children don't speak dialect , not in this school. Maybe in the public schools, but not here.
[...] on the second day, Miss Anderson gave the school a lecture on why it was wrong to speak dialect'. She had ended by saying "Respectable people don't speak ' dialect ."
- Home computers in the 1980s had many incompatible dialects of BASIC.
Usage notes
* The difference between a language and a dialect is not always clear, but it is generally considered that people who speak different dialects can understand each other, while people who speak different languages cannot. Compare species in the biological sense.Derived terms
* dialectal * dialecticSee also
* dialogue * ethnolect * idiolect * sociolectAnagrams
* ----idiom
English
(wikipedia idiom)Noun
(en-noun)- Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young.
page 134:
- You’re history , we say . Surely it is an American idiom . Impossible to imagine a postwar European saying, “You’re history. . . . That’s history,” meaning fuhgeddaboudit, pal.
Synonyms
* (phrase) expression (loosely), form of words (loosely), phrase (loosely)Derived terms
* idiolect * idiomatic * idiomatical * idiomaticallySee also
*External links
*American idioms- a comprehensive list of idioms, browsable through alphabetical links. Includes parts of speech, definitions and example sentences. *
English and American Idioms- RSS subscription channel *
Glossary of Linguistics*
Today's English Idioms at GoEnglish.com* *