A dialect is a variety of a language with its own pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, usually tied to a region or social group. Under the definition most linguists use, everyone speaks a dialect, including speakers of the standard form.
Key takeaways
- A dialect differs in grammar and vocabulary as well as pronunciation, which is what separates it from an accent.
- Most linguists count the standard form of a language as a dialect too.
- The map shows languages, not dialects: it has no data on dialect areas.
- The map follows Glottolog, which lists 6,722 living languages on the map and sets its own line between language and dialect.
How dialects work
In everyday use, "dialect" often means a local or informal way of speaking. Linguists use the word more broadly. A dialect is a variety of a language, and the term usually refers to regional dialects, speech patterns tied to a place [1]. It can also describe varieties linked to social class (a sociolect) or to an ethnic group (an ethnolect), and one person's own variety is called an idiolect [1].
A dialect differs from an accent. An accent is about pronunciation only, while a dialect also covers grammar and vocabulary [1]. Some linguists fold accent differences into dialect differences [1].
Under the definition most linguists use, every variety of a language counts as a dialect of that language, standard or not, so "everybody speaks a dialect" [1]. What makes a variety the standard is institutional support, such as dictionaries, schooling and official status, and the line between standard and nonstandard varieties is often arbitrary, resting on social, political, cultural or historical factors [1].
Dialects do not have sharp edges. Features such as a word or a vowel spread outward from different centres, so dialectologists map each feature with its own boundary line, called an isogloss, in place of sorting speakers into neat boxes [2]. That is the idea behind the dialect continuum. Whether a variety is a dialect of a language or a language in its own right is a different question, covered in language vs dialect.
An example from our data
The map deals in languages, not dialects. Glottolog, our source, groups dialects, languages and families under one heading, the languoid, defined as "a dialect, language or language family" [3]. The map shows the language level and has no separate layer for dialects or their areas.
Scots shows why the boundary needs care. It appears as its own language, with about about 99,000 speakers (Ethnologue, 2011, approximate) and a Glottolog endangerment status of threatened, in United Kingdom. Some people describe Scots as a language and others as a dialect of English. This site follows Glottolog and does not take a side.
German and Dutch are each shown as one language even though each is spoken in many regional forms. The map cannot show those internal differences. A single area for a language does not mean everyone inside it speaks the same way.
The thing people get wrong
The common mistake is to think a dialect is a "broken", rural or lower version of a language. Linguistically, a dialect is simply a variety, and the standard form is one too [1]. Calling a way of speaking a dialect says nothing about whether it is correct, complete or worth keeping.
A second mistake is to think that "dialect" always means "not a separate language". The same label is applied differently around the world, and the answer can depend on politics and history as much as sound [1].
Frequently asked questions
Is a dialect the same as an accent?
No. An accent is about pronunciation only. A dialect also differs in grammar and vocabulary.
Does the map show dialects?
No. It shows languages from Glottolog and has no data on dialects or their areas.
Sources
- Dialect, Wikipedia.
- Dialect continuum, Wikipedia.
- Glottolog glossary, Glottolog.
- Every figure from our own map is worked out from the datasets on the data sources page (checked against Glottolog and Glottography, retrieved 13 October 2026).