Variety (linguistics)

A variety of a language is a form that differs from other forms of the language systematically and coherently. "Variety" is a wider concept than style of prose or style of language.

Related Topics:
Style of prose - Style of language

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Some writers in sociolinguistics use the term lect, apparently a back-formation from specific terms such as "dialect" and "idiolect".

Related Topics:
Sociolinguistics - Back-formation

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Examples of varieties are:

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• dialects, i.e. varieties spoken by geographically defined speech communities
• sociolects, i.e. varieties spoken by socially defined speech communities
• standard language, standardized for education and public performance
• idiolects, i.e. a variety particular to a certain person
• registers (or diatypes), i.e. the specialised vocabulary and/or grammar of certain activities or professions
• ethnolects, for an ethnic group

Varieties such as dialects, idiolects, and sociolects can be distinguished not only by their vocabulary, but also by differences in grammar, phonology and prosody. For instance the tonal word accents of Scandinavian languages has differing realizations in many dialects. As another example, foreign words in different sociolects vary in their degree of adaptation to the basic phonology of the language.

Related Topics:
Grammar - Phonology - Prosody - Scandinavian languages

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Certain professional registers such as legalese show a variation in grammar from the standard language. For instance English journalists or lawyers often use grammatical moods such as subjunctive mood or conditional mood, which are no longer used frequently by other speakers. Many registers are simply a specialised set of terms (see technical terminology, jargon).

Related Topics:
Legalese - Grammatical mood - Technical terminology - Jargon

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It is a matter of definition whether slang and argot are to be considered included in the concept of variety or of style.

Related Topics:
Slang - Argot

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Colloquialisms and idioms are usually understood as limited to variation of lexicon, and hence of style.

Related Topics:
Colloquialism - Idiom - Lexicon

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