In this article we will explain how to differentiate language from dialect. Before this it is good to know that language should not be confused with language either; the language is actually a language that was accepted as official in a sovereign country.
The forms of linguistic expression are classified into three categories, the language, the speech and the dialect, which differ from each other by their lexicon, that is, the words, their phonetics, where the sounds are included, and the syntactic, which is the form of expression. build sentences.
Thus we have that there are forms of expression that only differ somewhat in phonetics and even in lexicon, but not syntactically, this would be speech; We can observe that in the different areas of each country, which speak the same language, there are different ways of doing it, what’s more, within each one, the speech between the regions can also be differentiated.
Now, if the variety of speech also makes a difference in the syntax, but they do not get to the point where they are confused with each other, then we are faced with a dialect, examples of this will be Valencian and Majorcan in Spain.
Thus, when the variety of speech has enough lexical and phonetic differences, that is, they can be inconsistent with each other, we will be encountering a language (remember that it is not a language, as we mentioned at the beginning). Examples of this would be Spanish, French, German, etc.
It is also true that several times this can be confusing and therefore cannot be entirely definitive; If we talk about the Romance languages, for example, we see that they are languages because they can be perfectly differentiated from one another, but the truth is that they do have a very high percentage of intelligibility, since each of them derives from Latin (that is, dialects of the latter language); Thus we have, then, that it is easier for someone who speaks Spanish to understand someone who speaks Italian, than someone who speaks French with someone who speaks German.
Instructions to differentiate language from dialect
- Let us remember that a language is a language that has been accepted in a country as official, which are written or verbal communication systems that are typical of men; Within each language we can find linguistic varieties that are close, and it is there that we will find the so-called dialects. Determining whether or not they are part of the same language really becomes more of a sociopolitical or historical issue than a linguistic one; so we can say that the differences between these two aspects are not so objective and are actually subjective.
- So then, a dialect is a speech variable, it is the term used to distinguish a variety of speech in a specific geographical area.
- There is anthropological linguistics, which describes the dialect as a specific language form used by a community; If we look at it from this point of view, we could say that nobody speaks languages but rather dialects that come out of it.
- To describe what a dialect is, a definitive agreement has not yet been reached among those in charge of investigating this aspect, but what is correct is that it is a variation of a certain language(or language) and that its use is much more local, it is not so well known around the world; Those local languages that share grammatical characteristics in the forms of linguistics that are closest are called dialect, and not precisely in vocabulary and pronunciation.
- The language is a league that was determined politically; for this there must be a group that is qualified and that has authority within society to be able to determine which of the dialects that exist can be official languages within a State. Many dialects, throughout history, have become official languages.
- The language and the dialect have a close relationship and that is why it is not easy to differentiate them, so people who reside in the same geographical part and speak the language or dialect share characteristics that are similar.
- We then have that the different systems of verbal and written communication in a way that is conventional are called languages (languages), such as Portuguese, German and Spanish, and likewise these systems are revealed in the form of dialects, which are more particular and regional.
Tips to differentiate language from dialect
- The dialect is more specific (it is concentrated in an area) while the language is more general.
- The language (language) has more prestige and is more accepted; in other decades even, it was said that the dialects were a deviation from the language, which broke with its norms.
- The language is already determined both historically and politically, while the dialect is being introduced by the speakers themselves.
- Languages that have originated a stable literature are also considered languages.
- The dialect is more basic and the language more extensive.