The term dialect is used to denote a geographically distinct variety of a language. For sociolinguistic purposes one must distinguish various sub-types of dialect.
However, it is used loosely, not only by non-linguists, to talk about any variety of language. Dialects within a variety framework are frequently referred to as regional varieties and sociolects as social varieties, though the label dialect can be retained if used objectively.ġ) Dialect Strictly speaking the term dialect refers to a geographical variant of a language.
The sole criterion to be fulfilled by a particular variety is delimitation vis à vis other varieties. This means that there are a large number of varieties of any given language. It simply refers to a distinguishable variant of a language. The neutrality of the term variety must be stressed. Nowadays, sociolinguistic attitudes are prevalent and the need for a term which can include the linguistic investigation of urban populations, both male and female, from a social point of view became evident. This view is understandable given the origin of dialectology in the nineteenth century, that is in the heyday of historical linguistics. The necessity for a neutral term such as variety arose from the loaded use of the term dialect: this was not only used in the neutral sense of a regionally bound form of a language, but also with the implication that the linguistically most interesting varieties of a language are those spoken by the older rural (male) population. The grounds for such differentiation may be social, historical, spatial or a combination of these. In present-day linguistics the term variety is used to refer to any variant of a language which can be sufficiently delimited from another one. Linguistic terms and varieties of English
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