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Chapter 3 Varieties of Language

2) Can we find any relationship between idiolect and other (ie temporal, regional, social, standard) dialects?

Idiolect means the individual dialect, which shows a specific person¡¯s own features of speech or writing habits. It includes one¡¯s particular voice quality, pitch and stress pattern, favorite lexical items and grammatical structures. Of course, it is closely related to the temporal, regional, social dialects, as a person¡¯s way of speaking may reflect the time, the place, and society he or she lives in.

As a movie fan, this question helps me recall a movie named ¡°My Fair lady¡± <ñºñ»ÊçÅ®>. Think of the dialect of the girl named Eliza and the professor called Higgins and classify the differences between them from which we can find the answers to the question.

Temporal dialect refers to the variety which correlates with the various periods of the development of language. For example, Shakespeare¡¯s English is somehow different from the one we use today as he lived in the 16th century and the language he used in his work may reflect some characters of the Middle English which may be difficult for us to understand.

Regional dialect refers to the variety that connects to the various places where people tend to develop different speech patterns. It varies from region to region. So far, we have British English, American English, Canadian English, and so on. And they have some distinctive features in phonology, vocabulary and grammar. Even inside Britain, people in Scotland speak a bit different from those in England or Wales.

Social dialect refers to the variety associated with certain social groups who may identify themselves as a separate socioeconomic classes or as ethnic groups. Have you ever heard of the term ¡°The King¡¯s English¡± or ¡°the Queen¡¯s English¡± , ¡°the Black English¡± or even ¡°PidginÑ󾶱õÓ¢Ó. Of course, the language may also differ in age, or gender.

Standard dialect is the variety of a language based on the speech and writing of educated native speakers of that language which enables speakers of the language throughout the world to communicate intelligibly with each other, irrespective of their social standing or regional background.

From what is mentioned above, we can clearly see that idiolect is inseparable from other (ie temporal, regional, social, standard) dialects.