What does dialect continuum mean?
Definitions for dialect continuum
di·alect con·tin·u·um
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word dialect continuum.
Wiktionary
dialect continuumnoun
A range of dialects that vary slightly by region, so that the further apart two regions are, the more the language differs.
Freebase
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the continuum are no longer mutually intelligible. The lines we can draw between areas that differ with respect to any feature of language are called isoglosses. According to the Ausbausprache – Abstandsprache – Dachsprache paradigm, these dialects can be considered Abstandsprachen. However, they can be seen as dialects of a single language, provided that a common standard language, through which communication is possible, exists. In sociolinguistics, a language continuum is said to exist when two or more different languages or dialects merge one into the other without a definable boundary. This happens, for example, across large parts of India. Historically, it also happened in various parts of Europe, for example in a line stretching from Portuguese to Walloon; from Portuguese to the southern Italian dialects; and between German and Dutch. Within the last 100 years or so, however, the increasing dominance of nation-states and their standard languages has been steadily eliminating the non-standard dialects of which these language continua were formed, making the boundaries ever more abrupt and well-defined.
Editors Contribution
dialect continuum
A range of dialects that vary slightly by region, so that the further apart two regions are, the more language differs.
Submitted by unsiakhan96 on February 14, 2021
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of dialect continuum in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of dialect continuum in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
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"dialect continuum." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 28 Aug. 2021. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/dialect+continuum>.
