Dialect vs Accent
 

Since in the field of linguistics the two terms dialect and accent are often used knowing the difference between dialect and accent is important. It is essential to emphasize on the fact that accent and dialect two different words that have to be understood differently in terms of their connotations. As words, accent and dialect have some interesting facts to offer. Both accent and dialect are nouns, but unlike dialect accent is used as a verb as well. The word dialect has come into use in the mid-16th century while the origin of the word accent lies with Late Middle English.

What does Dialect mean?

A dialect is another form of a given language. It also refers to a language derived from a primary language. For example, if Greek is considered a primary language then the other languages that are derived from it such as Attic, Doric and Ionic are all called as dialects. In the same way if Sanskrit is to be considered as a parent language or the primary language, then the languages that are derived from Sanskrit such as Hindi, Oriya, Marathi and Gujarati are all called as dialects.

Hence, the word dialect is always used in the sense of ‘a secondary language’ to any given primary language. Sometimes the word dialect is used in the sense of a regional language. Regional language refers to any language that is spoken in a particular region or place. It is commonly believed that a dialect is impure in nature to some extent. This is possibly due to the fact that most of the words that belong to a dialect are borrowed from the parent language.

What does Accent mean?

An accent, on the other hand, is the stress or emphasis to be laid on a particular letter or groups of letters in a word. Any language of the word has rules pertaining to accent or stress. It is important to note that accent plays a major role in the writing of poetry.

Accent plays a major role in the art of pronunciation. Different regions or social groups have different accents, in other words, accent of the speaker is an identity of his/her origin. Accents should never be altered. Examples for accents are the British accent, Australian accent, American accent, etc. As you can see all these accents are named according to the region they come from and these accents tell you that people from these different countries have their own way of pronouncing English.

What is the difference between Dialect and Accent?

• A dialect is another form of a given language. It also refers to a language derived from a primary language.

• The word dialect is always used in the sense of ‘a secondary language’ to any given primary language.

• Sometimes the word dialect is used in the sense of a regional language. Regional language refers to any language that is spoken in a particular region or place.

• An accent, on the other hand, is the stress or emphasis to be laid on a particular letter or groups of letters in a word.

• Accent plays a major role in the art of pronunciation.

• Different regions or social groups have different accents, in other words, accent of the speaker is an identity of his/her origin.

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