Dialects - Small Differences

If multiple languages can be shown to all come from the same common root language, which we assumes happens, what is the historical process that ultimately leads to their separation into different languages?

One clue to this process can be seen in dialects. A dialect can be defined as a geographical or social subdivision of a language that differs systematically from other such subdivisions of the same language in its vocabulary, grammar, and phonology.

We commonly know that we are in the presence of a person speaking a different dialect of English than our own when that person "sounds funny" or uses "strange words" to describe something. Even though we can understand what the person is saying we realize that their dialect is different from our own.

How does a person know if they are hearing a dialect of their own language or an entirely different language? One rule of thumb is that dialects of the same language are "mutually intelligible" -- in other words, two speakers can understand each other. If the two speakers cannot understand each other (or perhaps very little) than we can cautiously conclude that they speak different languages.

(Note: In the real world, however, there are dialects that are completely unintelligible to one another and there are languages, like for example, Danish and Swedish, that are mutually intelligible, so our "rule of thumb" is often violated in practice.)

Why and how do dialects develop? Answering this question is important because many scholars believe that dialects are the first step in the development of MULTIPLE languages from one ancestral language.

The first step in this historical process involves communicative isolation between two or more groups of people. In other words, groups become separated from one another in some manner and this leads, over time, to the development of dialects.

Exercise

Click on the words below to experience different dialects.

Exercise" dialects of English can you define?