Dialect is a variety of a language used by a particular group of speakers. All spoken languages change through time. Variations in language may arise from geographic factors, such as the Atlantic Ocean, which separates the United Kingdom and the United States. This separation leads to American and British dialects of the English language. Social factors—such as a speaker’s level of education, economic status, or ethnic background—can also produce separate dialects.
Dialects involve differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar. Certain dialects of American English demonstrate such differences. For example, some people who speak the Eastern New England dialect pronounce the word idea as idear. They may also use different vocabulary, calling the tree commonly known as a sycamore a buttonwood tree. Speakers of the Western Pennsylvania dialect may call a chipmunk a grinnie. As for different grammatical usages with dialects, speakers from Chicago might say Do you want to come with? In other American dialects, a speaker would likely say Do you want to come with us?
The term dialect often suggests that there is a standard form of a language that speakers of a dialect do not follow. For example, the French spoken in Paris is considered the standard form of that language. People who do not speak Parisian French are said to speak a dialect. But as a variation of the language, Parisian French must also be considered a dialect.
