Language And Dialect: A Comparative Analysis

Introduction

Language and dialect are seen as terms that are ambiguous. One of the reasons may be because of the fact that language itself is a diverse term and can adopt different definitions depending on the context or set of institution. In this essay, language and dialect are defined, described and thoroughly discussed and concrete examples are provided to support the theory that is provided in this essay regarding language and dialect. A brief discussion regarding the origins of language and how it evolved is also taken into consideration. This essay also discusses the connection between language and dialect with an aim of unpacking their real meaning and makes these terms to be more understandable rather than ambiguous. There is also

In other words human beings have the innate capacity to communicate using language (speaking with one another through their mouth using language) and in case of someone who’s deaf, he or she will communicate using sign language. In a nutshell language is a unique human capacity that is used for the production of utterances and also for understanding those utterances (Rowe & Levine, 2013, p. 2). Language enables people to be able to communicate and be able to express their feeling and thoughts. It is seen as being an important medium and cannot be separated from human beings, its existence is has to do with the fact that humans exist too; this leads to the origins of language and according to research stating the exact year or century regarding the creation of language is challenging because of lack of empirical support (Rabu,

The regional dialects are found specifically when one travels and engages with wide geographical area that has its own language. When language is been spoken for hundreds of years in an area, that language will consist of few differences in its pronunciation. It will also consist of differences in the syntax, and forms of words. Regional dialects means that a language that is in a wide geographical area have only few changes (distinctive local colorings in the language) and these changes are noticed as one move from one location to another (Wardhaugh, 2006, pp. 44-50). For example, within the context of Limpopo, the language “Sepedi” is found there. Sepedi is one language that has different varieties; people from Tzaneen speak a non-standard Sepedi which is “Khelobedu”, meaning that they speak or communicate differently from the Sepedi that is being taught at schools or spoken in other regions of Limpopo. For instances they change some of the alphabets and as a result that cause the sound of the word to change; ‘s’ is changed to ‘k’. “That thing is too small”, using standard Sepedi one would say: “selo sela ke se senyenyane” and using the non-standard Sepedi one would say: “khelo khela nkhe khe thokho” (Matlala,