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Language variety

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A neutral umbrella for a systematic form of language identified by who uses it, where or in what situation.

Also called: variety.

In precise terms

A language variety is any recognisable, systematic set of linguistic patterns considered without first deciding whether it is a separate language, dialect, register or style. A dialect is usually a regional or social variety associated with a group of users; a standard is also a variety, not a grammar-free baseline from which other speakers deviate.

An example

[who or where uses it] → dialect dimension · [situation or purpose] → register dimension (schematic)

What is going on here

The schema gives two ways a broader variety label can be made more specific. Neither dimension ranks the speech as better or worse: both identify recurring patterns and the social conditions associated with them.

Why this matters when you are learning a language

A dictionary, course or grammar may describe one named variety while people around you use several. Reading the variety label carefully prevents you from treating a standard form as the whole language or a regional form as a collection of mistakes.

Across languages

Researchers do not draw every boundary in the same place: some use variety broadly enough to include registers and styles, while others reserve it for relatively stable dialects. Community names, social history and analytical purpose all matter, so a careful description states which patterns and speakers its label covers.

Related terms

  • RegisterAdvanced — A recurring way of using language associated with a situation, purpose, participants or channel.
  • Style (sociolinguistics)Advanced — A pattern of linguistic choices through which speakers create or signal social meaning in an interaction.
  • Linguistic typologyAdvanced — Classifying languages by their structural features rather than their family history.

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