Matrilect

Quick meaning: Matrilect is a noun meaning (linguistics) The idiolect of the mother or the mother's clan in a household where the mother and the father speak different idiolects.

Meaning

(linguistics) The idiolect of the mother or the mother's clan in a household where the mother and the father speak different idiolects.

More Meanings

1. (linguistics) The language of the dominant local culture, in the situation where a pidgin or creole is formed from the language of the dominant culture and another outside introduced language.

Example Sentences

The highest level of good English has been called the acrolect; the lowest level of poor speech, the basilect; both are contrasted with the matrilect, the general native language.

Sui children rapidly learn to distinguish these clan-related dialects; young children may speak a mix of matrilect and patrilect, but older children and teenagers are almost fully patrilectal (Stanford, 2008b).

Stanford finds that women from the South who marry into North households maintain their Southern pattern almost perfectly, and children acquire much of this matrilect in their initial language learning period of 3 to 5 years of age.

The Tariana preference to speak in matrilect to mother’s relatives, as reported by Aikhenvald, provides a strong comparative starting point for continued research on the norms of appropriate language use among Arawak Tariana and East Tukano speakers.

Word Forms

• matrilects

Antonyms for matrilect

Common opposites include patrilect.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include medialect, macrolanguage, mimolect, mesolect, mesilect, macaronic.

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