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lect

 
(lĕkt) pronunciation
n.
A social or regional variety of speech having a sociolinguistic or functional identity within a speech community.

[From (DIA)LECT.]


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A variety of language having some basis within a community. An acrolect is a variety associated with prestige (e.g. BBC English); a basilect is the reverse; dialect is regional variation, and genderlect is difference of speech based on the gender of either speaker or hearer. An idiolect is a personal dialect. It is regarded as important in the philosophy of mind and language not to think of a public, shared language as simply a number of coincident idiolects, but rather as something prior, from which idiolects are derivative.

 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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