As the full purpose is bridging gaps in communication, this can be very adaptable and therefore will not necessarily stick to traditional language rules. Lingua FrancaĪ lingua franca is a common language used between people who speak different languages. A major example of this is African American Vernacular English. This may also be referred to as a minority dialect, highlighting the variation is not the predominant use. Social dialects emerge like dialects, but within a specific class or culture, instead of a region (though they can be further developed to fit certain regions).

There are many examples within the UK alone, from the broad differences between the English spoken in the North and South to the more specific, localised dialects, such as those spoken in certain cities, some of which have their own names (with Scouse from Liverpool, Geordie in Newcastle and Brummie in Birmingham to name just a few). Regional dialects are varieties of language that emerge based on regionally specific use. There are countless varieties of this, and it is a blanket term that really covers all of the other terms below. It is informal as the aim is to communicate rather than stick rigidly to rules, so it is where we see contractions and idiomatic language being used. Colloquial / InformalĬolloquial language is effectively anything that is not formal, often described as ‘spoken’ language. Standard English is what is generally taught where possible, but alternative forms may be taught in communities with developed variations. In practice, this is not necessarily practical English, but rather the sort of English we’d expect to see in formal writing or polite situations. We use the terms standard, polite and formal to refer to language that sticks to the rules and is essentially presented as the ‘proper’ form of English.

Below we’ll look at the following variety terms: All of these terms, however, can cover variations in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. There are a handful of ways linguists categorise varieties of language some definitions refer to word usage and rules, or merely to vocabulary, while others refer to the way language adapts culturally, in broader strokes.

Pidgin language example