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date: 16 March 2025

Dialect. 

Source:
Garner's Modern English Usage
Author(s):

Bryan Garner

The term dialect has two main senses: (1) in the popular sense, it refers to any linguistic variety other than the standard language; (2) in the linguist's sense, it refers to any linguistic variety that is shared by a group of speakers, including the standard variety. Sense 1 tends to be a depreciatory label, since it applies chiefly to nonprestigious varieties; sense 2 tends to be neutral, since it applies to all varieties. To those who adhere to sense 1, ... ...

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