Online Lesson: Language vs Dialect

One the most difficult theoretical issues in linguistics is how to make the distinction between language and dialect. On the surface there may appear to be no problem. When two people speak "differently," most people think there are only two possiblities. (1) If they do not understand each other, one assumes that they are speaking different "languages;" and (2) If they do understand each other, one assumes that they are speaking different dialects of the same language. However, while the dialect criterion of "mutual intelligibility" works most of the time, there are other criteria that distinguishes dialect from language.

Is it a Dialect or an Accent?

Accent refers ONLY to distinctive pronunciation whereas dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary as well. When a person says "He done did it" while another says "He did it" both are using different dialects because grammatical differences are involved. Pronouncing "Bathroom" with a short [a] or with a long [a:] is a matter of accent.

Study this chart:

[Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, p.287]

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