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local dialect

local dialect

1 7.4
A way of speaking used by people in one area
  • noun
  • /ˈloʊkəl ˈdaɪəˌlɛkt/
translation icon : dialecto local
  • Students can choose which local dialect to learn.

Examples

  • Students can choose which local dialect to learn based on their interests.

  • They quickly developed close relationships with people from the small villages around the site and even mastered the local dialects of Brauhvi and Siraiki.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Although 93 percent of the Chinese population is Han, hundreds of regional and local dialects exist.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Before focusing on the picture, focus on cultural interactions by smiling, making friends, and learning a few basic phrases in the local dialect.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Interviews were conducted in two local dialects, Ga and Twi.

    Academic text (2005)
  • In some cases, where parents were illiterate, the research assistants used the local dialects to explain the questionnaire to them and recorded their responses accordingly.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The death was significant because Mr. Hogg was the last speaker of a local dialect called "Comarty fisherfolk" that now only exists in a few brief audio clips.

    Blog text (25)
  • To fit in, he cut his hair and learned the local dialect of the town.

  • An unusual feature of Smith Island is the distinct local dialect that reflects its history.

Synonyms

dialect
vslocal dialect
63 4.8

A form of language used in one area or group with its own words, grammar, and sounds

has the same meaning and refers to the same regional form
vernacular
vslocal dialect
20 6.8

The everyday language that ordinary people in a particular place speak

covers all regional forms, not only common everyday speech
patois
vslocal dialect
3 9.9

A way of speaking that people in a place or group use, different from the standard language

is neutral about standardness, meaning regional variety without judgment
unique dialect
vslocal dialect
7.3

A way of speaking a language in one place that is different from other places

refers to regional forms generally, not stressing uniqueness

How Distinct

local dialect
1 7.4
regionalism
1 8.0
vernacular
20 6.8

Surface Forms

local dialect singular

Morphology

local + dialect

The meaning 'the particular form of a language characteristic of a specific region or community' is directly and compositionally derived from 'local' (pertaining to a particular area) modifying 'dialect' (a distinctive language form). This simple adjective+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary semantic combination, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Local dialect comes from the idea that a small place, the local area, has its own way of speaking. Picture a village where people use special words and sounds and that community speech is the dialect, so local dialect means the particular form of 'language' used in that 'region'.