What is the language spoken in a particular area in a particular group called?

Dialect and slang are two important terms in the language. Dialect refers to a variety of language spoken in a certain geographical area or spoken by a particular group of people. Slang is an informal nonstandard variety of speech which consists of newly coined and rapidly changing words and phrases. The main difference between dialect and slang is that slang is distinguished by its vocabulary whereas dialect indicates differences in grammar, vocabulary as well as in pronunciation.

This article explains, 

1. What is a Dialect? – Definition, Characteristics, and Examples

2. What is a Slang? – Definition, Characteristics, and Examples

3. Difference Between Dialect and Slang 

What is Dialect

A dialect is a variety of a language spoken in a particular geographical area or by a particular group of people. It differs from the standard variety of a language. These differences are based on variations in grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary. 

Dialects can be divided into two categories known as standard and non-standard dialects.  A standard dialect is the one that is approved and supported by institutions, and non-standard dialects are those that are not supported by institutions.  For example, the Spanish language has many dialects such as  Basque,  Galician, and Catalan, but it is Castilian which is considered to be the standard version.

A person’s pronunciation, use of vocabulary and grammar indicate the dialect he is speaking and this dialect, in turn, can reflect details like geographical location, social background, and education of that person.

There is no standard definition or method to identify the difference between language and a dialect. The most common method to identify the difference between the two is the mutual intelligibility. If two speakers of different language varieties can understand each other, then the two varieties are known as dialects. If not, they are classified as different languages.

Albanian Dialects

What is Slang

Slang is an informal nonstandard variety of speech which consists of newly coined and rapidly changing words and phrases. It is regarded as very informal and therefore, more common in speech than in writing. Slang is typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.

Slang also marks group membership since it is a correlate of human groups with shared experiences. For example, children at a certain school or of a certain age may create and speak their own slang. Some other examples of such certain socially definable groups include taxi drivers, jazz musicians, or professional criminals, police officers, etc. Thus, use of slang reflects an individual’s membership in a certain social group as well as attitudes.

Given below are some examples of slang words:

beemer – a BMW

bonkers – crazy

razz – annoy someone

turkey  – failure, flop

noid – someone that’s paranoid

Australian Slang

Difference Between Dialect and Slang

Definition

Dialect is a variety of a language spoken in a particular geographical area or by a particular group of people. 

Slangis an informal nonstandard variety of speech which consists of newly coined and rapidly changing words and phrases.

Aspects

Dialectis distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Slangis distinguished by its vocabulary.

Nonstandard

Dialectcan be standard or nonstandard.

Slangis nonstandard and informal.

Indications

Dialectusually indicates that the speaker belongs to a particular geographical location.

Slangcan reflect an individual’s membership in a certain social group.

Image Courtesy: 

“Albanian dialects” By Arnold Platon – Own work, based on map 1, 2 and 3, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia

“Australian Slang: Billabong, Bunghole, Furphy and Mateship courtesy of @tagxedo” by Ron Mader (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr