Lingo Dialect

Ask about the difference between a dialect and a language, and you will see most
people scratching their heads, as they rack their brains. So, what does one mean
when one uses the terms lingo and dialect? While lingo is a slang abbreviation
for linguistics, a dialect refers to the modified version of a standard language in
terms of grammar as well as vocabulary. Although teachers of standard languages
do not approve of the use of dialects, which they believe are corrupt forms of the
mother language, historical linguists respect every speech form as a dialect of the
older language from which it was derived. Thus, according to the latter, languages
like French and Italian developed from dialects of Latin.
Another striking example is that of Hindi, Indias national language. Believed to
been derived from Sanskrit, the mother of most of the languages, Hindi itself has a
number of sister languages, such as Avadhi, Bhojpuri, Bhrijhbhasha, Punjabi, and
Urdu, which have probably emerged from its dialects. In fact, if we were to look for
existing dialects of this language, Bambaiya Hindi is strikingly different from
Hyderabadi Hindi.
If one were to listen to Marathi, Malwani, and Konkani carefully, one would realize
that there are striking resemblances between these languages, with Malwani
borrowing liberally from Marathi as well as Konkani. The amazing thing is about the
dialects in borderline areas. For example, the Konkani spoken at the Maharashtra
border has numerous Marathi words in it, whereas, Konkani spoken in Karnataka has
a strong Kannada influence. Goan Konkani, on the other hand, has some Portuguese
words in it, owing to the fact that the area was ruled by the Portuguese for a long
period of time in Indian history. Similarly, such an admixture is also seen in the
Kutchi language, which borrows heavily from Gujarati and Sindhi.
Many people wrongly suppose that there is only one correct form of a language;
however, the truth is that no dialect is superior to another. All dialects follow regular
patterns of vocabulary choice, grammar, and pronunciation, by virtue of which
communication becomes possible among a social group or community. Every person
is proud of his or her mother tongue and expects others to also respect it, even if
they spoke a different language or dialect.
When only the pronunciation varies in a particular group of people, the term
accent is used instead of dialect. In fact, depending on whether the difference in
language is social, ethnic, regional, or topographic, the terms sociolect, ethnolect,
regiolect, and topolect, respectively can be used for more clarity. Some people
also assume that any language that does not have a script can be called a dialect,
but this is a misconception. Tulu is an independent spoken language, which is
unique in itself; however, it does not have a separate script. Even Konkani did not
have an official script till the last decade or so. In the past, Konkani-speaking people
used the English, Marathi, or Kannada script to communicate with each other.

Frankly speaking, there are no universally accepted criteria to distinguish between a

language and a dialect. Any attempt to do so only leads to ego clashes and hurt
feelings. Hence, there is a need to simply let all the dialects exist in all their
grandeur, so that everyone can enjoy the beauty of unity in diversity!