Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The variety of speech that is most remote from the prestige variety, especially in an area where a creole is spoken. For example, in Jamaica, Jamaican Creole is the basilect whereas Standard Jamaican English is the acrolect or prestige language.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun linguistics A
variety of alanguage that hasdiverged greatly from thestandard form.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[basi– + (dia)lect.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From basi- + lect.
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Examples
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yarb commented on the word basilect
According to wikipedia, the "lower boundary of a post-creole speech continuum".
The upper boundary is apparently called the arcolect.
January 10, 2008
reesetee commented on the word basilect
Huh. Who knew there was a post-creole speech continuum? Learn something new every day. :-)
January 10, 2008
sionnach commented on the word basilect
See also acrolect, mesolect.
January 10, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word basilect
And architect.
No, not really.
January 10, 2008