Assignment: Sociolinguistics

Submitted by: Muhammad Idrees/ lhr1955

Submitted to: Ma’am Farukh shah

Topic:
What is dialect and its types? Compare any two dialect by your own choice in
area of Pronunciation, Vocabulary and Grammar.

Date: 29 Mar, 2021.

Dialect:
A dialect is a variety of a spoken language having specific linguistic features of vocabulary,
grammar, and pronunciation that distinguish it from other varieties of the same language. The
word comes from the Ancient Greek dialektos “conversation, language, local speech,” which is
derived from dialegesthai “to converse, talk.” The term is applied most often to regional speech
patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. Thus, from a
broader perspective, a dialect is a distinct form of a language that is characteristic of a
particular region or a particular social class or profession.
 Types of Dialects

Regional Dialect:
A subgroup variety of a language associated with a particular geographical area is called a
regional dialect. This type of dialect is frequently produced through the historical linguistic
processes of change that we saw in the last lesson, such as contact with speakers of other
languages, changes due to new tools and techniques, and perhaps most especially, differences
tied to the environment.
Examples of regional dialects include the dialect of the Southern United States and the three
dialects of German in Europe: Low, Middle, and High German.

Ethnic dialect:
A subgroup variety of a language that is associated with a particular ethnic group is termed an
ethnic dialect.
African-American Vernacular English is considered by some to be an ethnic dialect, or
ethnolect, of English. It is a variety of English spoken by people of African American heritage in
the United States.

Sociolect:
A subgroup variety of a language that is associated with a social group of any sort is termed a
sociolect.
Technically, an ethnic dialect is one kind of sociolect. Other sociolects are based on age groups,
gender, and socioeconomic class.

Idiolect:
“Idiolect” refers to an individual’s unique variety and/or use of language, from the level of the
phoneme to the level of discourse. This meaning is reflected in the etymology of the word: the
two morphemes idio- and -lect. Idio- is of Greek origin, and means “own, personal, private,
peculiar, separate and distinct,” while -lect refers to a “social variety of a language.”

 Comparison of Waziri Pashtu and Peshawari Pashtu, the two regional

dialects of Pashtu

Pronunciation
The two regional dialects of Pashtu pronounce differently due to Deletion, substitution,
addition and elision of certain phonemes. Substitution takes place at larger level e.g. kh
and sh are the most prominent sound.
 Peshawari Pashtu
stә́ṛay mә́ še
pə xair rāğ́ le
pə mә́kha de x̌á
radza kéna
saˈlɔːm zmɔː num ʤɔːn de
stāso dǝ-lido ʦǝxa xoš-hāla
šwǝm
tāso dǝ kum dzāy yāst
stāso num ʦǝ dǝy?
Vocabulary
Peshawari Pashtu
Za pe de serai koz sham?
Dre dande ye wowahalam
klak
Pa khpal zan ye karri di
tandai me klak khugegi
da ghre pe kone k
Da drum zhagh
Dre bachi me di
Or ta me pokhai warkrai
Grammar
In case of grammar these two regional dialects show a slight a difference. e.g. in case of
Waziri Pashtu, the masculine nouns terminate with ai instead of e as in Peshawari. Also,
in Waziri Pashtu helping verb is not used in interrogative form but in case of Peshawari
helping verb is used.
Peshawari Pashtu
Waziri Pashtu
stә́ṛai mә́ še
pə xair roğle
pə mә́kh de šá
rosha kshina
saˈlɔːm de mɔː num ʤɔːn
dai
De tose de lidale sara za
der khwashol shwa
Tuse de kim dzoy na ye
De tu num ʦǝ dai
Waziri Pashtu
Za pe da shel kiz walwe
zhan?
Dre lawar ye wuwahalan
ret
Pa khpal sar de karri di
sar me der khwazhezhi
De ghre pa bekh kshe
De dol zhagh
Zamin me dre di
Yor ta mi pikhai karai dai
Waziri Pashtu
English
May you not be tired
With goodness (you) came
On your front be good
Come and sit
Hi. My name is John.
It’s nice to see you.
What is your name?
English
Shall I go down that
stairs?
He struck me hard three
times with a stick.
He did it himself.
I have a splitting
headache.
At the foot of the hill.
Noise of a drum.
I have three sons.
I have blown the fire.
English
Hagha da haghay na lwarr de Agha de aghe na chag dai He is taller than her.

Aya agha pa cheenay jaba k Agha pa cheenay zhaba shee Does she speak Chinese?
khabaary kolay shee? khabaary krrai shi?

Mar khwarrale de Mangor khwarralai dai He is bitten by a snake.

Aya ta ba chai oskhe? Chai chshee? Do you want to take tea?

Aya za ta pejanam? Za to pezhana? Do I know you?

The end