Hello and welcome to the topic: "Difference between
Dialect and Sociolect". What is dialect? Let's first discuss about it. A 'dialect' refers to a
geographical variety of language. It determines the language on the basis of geographical location,
that is to say, geographical variety of language. And in the map you can see how English language is
divided into different geographical locations. We move on to the next. In other words, we can say
that, a 'dialect' is spoken in a certain area, in a certain geographical location. For example:
Yorkshire, East Midland, South Eastwest country. So, in different geographical areas, we
have different way of speaking, that is to say, a 'dialect' is spoken in a certain area. We
have the same idea in a different way. It differs in some linguistic forms from other
geographical varieties of the same language. Language is the same, for example, English is spoken
almost all over England but English is not used, is not spoken, in every geographical area in the same
manner as we can see in the map. Now let's talk about 'Examples of English dialects': And this will
make the concept much clearer. Northern Dialect, Western Dialect, Eastern Dialect, South Eastern
Dialect, East Anglian, and Southwestern Dialect. So, we can see how English in England are divided
into different dialects based on its geographical location. Now, let's talk about: 'What is Socialect?'
Sociolect is also known as 'social dialect'. It is associated with a particular class. We have
some more ideas. A form of language used by a socio-economic class, a profession, an age group
or other social groups or categories...you can say in that way. We have another important point in
this direction. Sociolect links individuals with the community of its users and assigns prestige
to a group. 'Sociolect': Your gender, that is to say, the difference between the way men and women
speak, the way they use language, may determine your sociolect. Your age, your race, your social
association with a particular group of people and so on. Let's have examples of 'sociolect'
to understand this concept in a much better way. Your profession is a factor in your sociolect or
the way you use language. For example: you may have these different people coming from different
professions like...the first one is 'doctor'. The second one is 'engineer', 'farmer ' and 'shopkeeper'. They
all belong to different professions. So, in the way, they use language, in the way doctor uses the
language will differ from in the way engineer uses the language, farmer uses the language,
and shopkeeper uses the language. These are the best examples of sociolect on the basis of
profession. We have some more examples of sociolect. Your race may also be a factor in your sociolect
or the way you use language. For example: if you are coming from different races like if you
are Indian, British, African and Korean. So, in the way, Indian use the language or in the way the
British and the African and the Korean. So, your race also determines the way you use the language.
This could also be a factor in your sociolect. So, what is to keep in mind is that 'dialect' is
the geographical variety of a language whereas 'sociolect' is your identity of language based
on your profession, based on your job, based on your race, based on the age group, and so on. That
is basically the difference between 'dialect' and 'sociolect'. Dialect is all about location. It's all
about how people speak the same language slightly different in another location. But 'sociolect'
is your position in the society, your class, your race, your profession...all this determines the way
you use the language. And, that is basically the difference between 'dialect' and 'sociolect'. Hope
you understand the concept. Thank you and goodbye.