What is a dialect and what is an accent?

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Track; LAKEY INSPIRED - In My Dreams
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In this channel I make videos on topics in Spanish language and linguistics. Mostly phonetics and phonology, but also dialectology, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics. Many of my videos come from questions asked by viewers in the comment section.
Spanish language
Spanish pronunciation
Spanish phonetics
Spanish phonology
Spanish dialects

[thecaf]

Even though it's confusing sometimes, I love the concept of how languages slowly diverge and evolve from ancestor languages, almost in the exact same way that animals split into different species over long periods of time from their ancestors.

[kaikaichen]

"Taiwanese" is an interesting one, because technically it can refer to either:

a) Taiwanese Mandarin, which is a dialect of "Standard Mandarin" (known as _Guoyu_ in Taiwan) that contrasts with the Mainland Chinese dialect of the same language (known as _Putonghua_ in Mainland China), or...

b) Much more commonly - Taiwanese Hokkien, usually just called Taiwanese, which is a dialect of Hokkien, a.k.a Southern Min, which very similar to the dialects of Hokkien spoken in southern Fujian Province across the strait in Mainland China.

Of course... Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are often referred to as dialects of Chinese. But they've diverged so much from the common ancestor language that in my opinion they're basically different languages. Not unlike the relationship between the Romance languages of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, etc... and their relationship with Latin.

Okay, I'm done nerding out now. :]

[ornamentidoro]

I'm an Argentininan living in Spain, and every time I tell a Spaniard "my dialect of Spanish is differrent from yours" they look at me in a weird way

[kmit]

Interestingly, in German we say dialect when it is a native variety to German, and accent when it is noteable influence from somewhere else. So in example you can have a dutch accent or a bavarian dialect but not the other way around.
So effectively in German it means something different.

[b.michaellewis]

No hablo castellano mal HABLO ANDALÚZ PERFECTO!

[nesrineouahab]

That's fascinating. In the case of Arabic, there are different dialects, almost each country has it's own dialect and they are somehow mutually intelligible ( but not 100%). Countries that are neighbours are very mutually intellegible comapring to other countries, and they have a similar accent too ( For ex: Golf countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Quatar and Kuaït / Maghreb countries like Tunisia/ Algeria/ Morocco) The thing is that even in the country itself, there are numerous "sub-dialects" from one region to another ( I don't think they are accents since the difference is more than just prononciation) For ex in Algeria, which is a very large country, dialect of eastern states are similar and the more you get closer to Tunisian borders the more they sound like Tunisian dialect, whereas in the western states, the more you get closer to Moroccan borders the more they sound like Morrocan dialect.

[joshadams]

I could tell that your diagram was really about Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Norn. On an unrelated note, I am proud of my New England dialect, which causes me to pronounce “aunt” “ahnt”, even though it limits intelligibility with other Americans. I rely on paid interpreters.

Thanks for your very precise but detailed videos. We learn a lot every time!

[michipichu]

I have always wondered about your background in Spanish too. That's so cool to learn you're really an expert. Was there anything in particular that sparked your interest in Spanish? Also I was wondering if you have any favourite Spanish books or movies? Right now I'm reading Donde nadie me espere by Piedad Bonnett to learn some Colombia-specifc vocab. It's turned out to be a great book so far. -Meaghan

[JorgeGarcia-lwvc]

Dialectal differences within the variants of Castilian Spanish are very minor, even across the world, when compared with "dialects" of German, Italian, Chinese, Slovenian, Arabic and others, where often these variants are seen by linguists as being separate languages. In Spanish the regional varieties have a very strong common reference to the standard varieties and are very strongly mutually intelligible. In the past, often the terms dialects of Spanish was applied to other very closely related languages like Ladino, Asturian, Leonese, or Aragonese, which would be like comparing English to Scots.

[teamo]

How did you learn so much about Spanish? Do you have like a Spanish PhD? I think I want one.

[elmarsana]

Una deuda enorme con las lenguas pre existentes a la llegada de los europeos tiene Latinoamérica. En Argentina ocurre que hay chicos quechua parlantes que comienzan la escolaridad sin saber castellano, y recién hace pocos años comenzaron a capacitar maestros bilingües.

[FastEddie]

You did a great job in explaining dialects, using your American English dialect.

[antiokguy]

Excellent and very informative video clip. My first language was Spanish and now I am studying two Arabic dialects (Egyptian and Levantine). I admit that I often correct individuals when they refer to Latin American Indigenous languages as dialects or when Filipinos refer to their native languages as dialects. It's the same with Italians when they refer to their regional languages as dialects.

[wraithwinterly]

Hi! I really love your videos. ¿Puedes hacer vídeos de gramática, y cómo aprendes español ser muy fluide?

[LEGIONARIO]

In Mexico we still preserve around 68 different languages one of them is the Mexican Spanish dialect, the other 67 languages have their own dialects or variants as well, depending on the region they're spoken.

[patriciadriscoll]

Hi Ten Minute Spanish, I know that you have a lesson on the letter P, but was wondering if you have ever addressed PR. My Spanish teacher can´t explain to me how to get the sounds to flow together correctly and I feel like the R suffers if I try to do P correctly. Thanks!

[JoelMunizVilla]

"Divide et impera" = dialectology + politics= WAR

[cabarete]

There may be areas that use the term to mean a variety of the language that does not have as much prestige; however, it can also be a badge of honor. Take the folks in Medellin Columbia. They are very proud of their "dialect" as Paisas. Dominicans don't use the term dialect so much as patois. They will tell you straight up that they machuca the language and that it is a patois of Spanish. Peruvians claim they have NO accent. What of the "Chilangos" of Mexico City? They are hated by some and loved by others...namely themselves. They love their own accent/dialect. Same goes for Brazil's different regions. What they speak in Rio is nothing less than a dialect. The NE, Sao Paulo and the South...Brasilia...all distinct. Here in the US...you think Texans are offended by the "dialect" title of their English?

Personally, I see accent as the difference between larger geographic areas and dialect simply on a smaller scale. England has a different accent than in the US. But if you roam around London you will hear different dialects of English (prior to the recent mass immigration and introduction of foreign accents). I am speaking strictly of those dialectical differences that London had organically.

Naw...people that get upset of these things are the same -ists and believe in the same -isms that like to attack anyone claiming they are and -ist of some sort. They are bullies, plain and simple. Ignore them.

[mep]

I can't believe people believe dialect means another language similar to the standard language. It's a variation of the standard language 🤦‍♂️. As a Spanish speaker, I'm sad that you had to make this video