eye dialect
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From eye + dialect. First used by George P. Krapp in The English Language in America (1925) in reference to written dialogue that uses nonstandard spelling but doesn't indicate an unusual pronunciation.
[edit] Noun
eye dialect (countable and uncountable; plural eye dialects)
- (uncountable) The deliberate use of nonstandard spellings to indicate that the speaker uses a nonstandard or dialectal speech, even though the spelling is pronounced the same way as the original word.
- (uncountable) The written representations of dialect speech in which words are spelled in a manner which indicates a non-standard pronunciation.
- (countable) A set of such nonstandard spellings, collectively used to reflect a certain form of speech.
[edit] Usage notes
- The term eye dialect may have a negative connotation; pronunciation spelling, respelling, or pronunciation respelling may be considered more neutral.
