diglossia

[ dahy-glos-ee-uh, -glaw-see-uh ]

noun
  1. 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.

  2. Pathology. the presence of two tongues or of a single tongue divided into two parts by a cleft.

Origin of diglossia

1
1955–60; Latinization of French diglossie, equivalent to Greek díglōss(os) speaking two languages (see diglot) + French -ie-y3

Other 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

diglossia

/ (daɪˈɡlɒsɪə) /


noun
  1. 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

1
C20: New Latin, via French, from Greek diglōssos speaking two languages: see diglot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012