See also accent, bilingualism, creole, dialect, field, functions of language, language change, mode, multilingualism, register, standard English, tenor Language varies according to how speakers and writers use it. Functional linguists, for example...

Term introduced in American variational linguistics to designate regional, social, and other types of language varieties. In compound words (e.g. sociolect, dialect, idiolect, isolect, etc.), the first element indicates the type of...

/lekt/ n. Any particular speech variety, considered per se, without reference to any social, geographical or other significance which it may possess. Back-formation from...

A variety of a language is a form that differs from other forms of the language systematically and coherently. Variety is a wider concept than style of prose or style of language. Some writers in sociolinguistics use the term lect, apparently a...