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December 02, 2005
Response to Brenna's Question
Question: Stubbs touched upon the difference between accent and dialect, but I was not really satisfied with his conclusions. What exactly is the difference between dialect and accent?
Answer: Everybody has a dialect and an accent and in most cases, people who have the same accents have the same dialects. However, this are distinct differences between the two terms. According to dictionary.com, a dialect is "a regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists" and an accent is "the relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater intensity or by variation or modulation of pitch or tone." In other words, a dialect is defined by the words, the syntax and the accent, which is how the words are pronounced. Therefore, your dialect includes your accent, but I wonder, is it possible to have different accents in a single dialect? Theoretically I think it is possible, but I can't think of any examples.
-Jessica F.
Posted by lcisfaria at December 2, 2005 09:56 PM