1. regional or social varieties of a language that differ in vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation
Usage: plural of dialect

Examples

• The professor studied various dialects of English spoken across the American South.
• Rural dialects often preserve older forms of pronunciation and vocabulary.
• Chinese has many dialects that are sometimes mutually unintelligible.
• The linguist recorded speakers of different dialects for her research project.
• Some dialects use different words for the same concept, like ‘soda’ versus ‘pop’.
• Regional dialects can reveal interesting patterns of historical migration.
• The dictionary includes words from various English dialects around the world.