dia-

A commonly used PREFIX, derived from the term DIALECT, and used in LINGUISTIC studies whenever a dialectal frame of reference is required. Dialinguistics is sometimes used to refer to the study of the range of dialects and LANGUAGES used in a speech community. A diatype is a term used by some SOCIOLINGUISTS to refer to a VARIETY of language defined according to its use or purpose. It thus contrasts with dialect, which is a variety defined in terms of regional or social groups of users. Alternative terms include VARIETY and REGISTER. A diasystem is a network of FORMAL relationships which shows the common linguistic SYSTEM assumed to underlie two or more dialects, as a frame-work for displaying their STRUCTURAL differences. The notation used for this purpose includes formulae which display structural correspondence, e.g.

etc., where X and Y are the names of two areas, ~ indicates a contrast which is relevant for one dialect only, ≈ for two (or more) dialects. Within such a framework, diasystemic UNITS can be identified: a diaphone is an abstract PHONOLOGICAL unit set up to identify an equivalence between the sound system of different dialects, e.g. the diaphone /ei/, as in English mate, is realized as [ei], [ai] etc.; a diamorph displays equivalences between MORPHOLOGICAL units; and so on.