ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Diglossia

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˌdaɪˈɡlɒsi.ə/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Diglossia is a noun meaning (pathology) The presence of a cleft or doubled tongue.

Meaning

(pathology) The presence of a cleft or doubled tongue.

More Meanings

  1. (linguistics, sociology) The coexistence in a given population of two closely related native languages or dialects, one of which is regarded as more prestigious than the other; the similar coexistence of two unrelated languages.

Example Sentences

Only very small and isolated communities display neither diglossia nor bilingualism.
2000, Joshua A. Fishman, Chapter 3: Bilingualism with and without diglossia; diglossia with and without bilingualism, Li Wei (editor), The Bilingualism Reader, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 81, It is the purpose of this chapter to relate these two research traditions to each other by tracing the interaction between their two major constructs: bilingualism (on the part of psychologists) and diglossia (on the part of sociologists).

Word Forms

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include polyglossia, homoglossia, heteroglossia, homolog, interdialect, digraphia.

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Sources & Attribution

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