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A dialect is a form of a language spoken in one area, with words, sounds, or grammar a little different from other forms of the same language. People from nearby places can often still understand each other.
A dialect「Dialect」（方言） is a form of a language是一種語言的地方形式 spoken in one area在某個地區使用， with words, sounds, or grammar字詞、發音或文法 a little different from other forms of the same language跟同一種語言的其他形式有些不同。 People人們 from nearby places來自附近地區的 can often still understand each other通常還是聽得懂彼此。
Though actually, the tidy school idea that “language” is big and “dialect” is small is messier than it looks: there is no sharp scientific line. Groups with power tend to call their own way “the language” and other people’s way “a dialect.” Linguists also use dialect for the speech of a social group, not only of a town.
Though actually不過事實上， the tidy school idea that學校教的那種簡單說法， "language" is big and "dialect" is small「language」比較大、「dialect」比較小， is messier than it looks實際上比看起來複雜得多： there is no sharp scientific line並沒有明確的科學界線。 Groups with power有權力的族群 tend to call往往把 their own way自己的講法 "the language"叫做「the language」（語言） and而 other people's way把別人的講法 "a dialect."叫做「a dialect」（方言）。 Linguists語言學家 also use dialect也會用 dialect 這個詞 for the speech of a social group來指某個社會群體的說話方式， not only of a town而不只是某個城鎮的。
It is a neutral word in ; in ordinary talk it can sound as if the speaker means “not the proper kind.”
It它 is a neutral word in linguistics在語言學裡是個中性的詞； in ordinary talk但在日常對話裡 it它 can sound as if聽起來可能像是 the speaker means說話的人在說 "not the proper kind."「不是正統的那種」。
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
dialectnoun/ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/
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human-scienceslinguisticssciencesA lect (often a regional or minority language) as part of a group or family of languages, especially if they are viewed as a single language, or if contrasted with a standardized idiom that is considered the 'true' form of the language (for example, Bavarian as contrasted with Standard German).
- The question could be put: 'Is there anything inherent in a dialect which gives it a negative stigma or is it that the status of the majority of the speakers is transferred to the dialect?' — something that occurs in many regions in different countries.
- Comparative wordlists of two dialects of Yoruba with Igala.
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human-scienceslinguisticssciencesA variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular area, community, or social group, differing from other varieties of the same language in relatively minor ways as regards grammar, phonology, and lexicon.
- 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
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derogatoryLanguage that is perceived as substandard or wrong.
- 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."
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offensiveA language existing only in an oral or non-standardized form, especially a language spoken in a developing country or an isolated region.
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computingengineeringmathematicsA variant of a non-standardized programming language.
- Home computers in the 1980s had many incompatible dialects of BASIC.
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biologynatural-sciencesornithologyA variant form of the vocalizations of a bird species restricted to a certain area or population.
- A curious question, which has as yet attracted but little attention, is whether the notes of the same species of Bird are in all countries alike. From my own observation I am inclined to think that they are not, and that there exist "dialects," so to speak, of the song.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。