One usage—the more common among linguists—refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect, a dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed as ethnolect, and a regional dialect may be termed a regiolect. According to this definition, any variety of a language constitutes "a dialect", including any standard varieties. COUNT 5
QSN1 What is the common definition of dialect? ANS1 a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers QSN2 What is the term dialect most often applied to? ANS2 regional speech patterns QSN3 Aside from region, what is an example of a factor that may influence dialect? ANS3 social class QSN4 What is a term for a dialect particular to a social class? ANS4 sociolect QSN5 What do you call a dialect particular to a certain ethnicity? ANS5 ethnolect