Definitions:

							                                  Linguistics Definitions

Dialect:
1.
a. A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or
vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or
speech pattern of the culture in which it exists: Ebonics is a dialect of English.
b. A variety of language that with other varieties constitutes a single language of which
no single variety is standard: the dialects of English.
4. A language considered as part of a larger family of languages or a linguistic branch.

Slang:
1. A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically
of often short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of
standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect.
2. Language peculiar to a group; argot or jargon.

Argot:
A specialized vocabulary or set of idioms used by a particular group. Often this special
vocabulary is used as a way of speaking in code so only members of a certain group can
understand what is being said. Example: Thieves’ argot.

Creole:
A well-defined and stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two
or more languages, typically with many distinctive features that are not inherited from
either parent. All creole languages evolved from pidgins, usually those that have become
the native language of some community.

Pidgin, or contact language:
The name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of a mixture of other
languages as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues. Pidgins
have simple grammars and few synonyms, serving as auxiliary contact languages. They
are learned as second languages rather than natively.

Descriptive approach to language:
System of describing the grammatical system that underlies the way people actually
speak and write language.

Prescriptive approach to language:
System of analyzing language that aims to tell people how they should speack and write-
to give advice on how to use language