diglossia
the widespread existence within a society of sharply divergent formal and informal varieties of a language each used in different social contexts or for performing different functions, as the existence of Katharevusa and Demotic in modern Greece.
Pathology. the presence of two tongues or of a single tongue divided into two parts by a cleft.
Origin of diglossia
1Other words from diglossia
- di·glos·sic [dahy-glos-ik], /daɪˈglɒs ɪk/, adjective
Words Nearby diglossia
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for diglossia
/ (daɪˈɡlɒsɪə) /
linguistics the existence in a language of a high, or socially prestigious, and a low, or everyday, form, as German and Swiss German in Switzerland
Origin of diglossia
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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