Dialect

A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or isolated areas. The dialects of the same language are mainly distinguished from each other by differences in linguistic features such as phonology, morphology, syntax and vocabulary.

The term "dialect" is most often used to refer to regional dialects—i.e., linguistic varieties that are spoken in a particular geographical region, distinguished from those of other regions. Varieties associated with groups defined in other ways may be referred to as "dialects", or with more specialized terms such as sociolect (the dialect of a social class) and ethnolect (the dialect of an ethnic group). An idiolect is the unique variety of language used by a particular individual.

The non-standard dialects of a language with a writing system will operate at different degrees of distance from the standardized written form. An oral dialect or idiolect may be portrayed in written form with eye dialect.

Standard and nonstandard dialects

A standard dialect, also known as a "standardized language", is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include any or all of the following: government recognition or designation; formal presentation in schooling as the "correct" form of a language; informal monitoring of everyday usage; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a normative spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature (be it prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.) that uses it.