What is the difference between dialogue and dialect? “Dia” means across, right? “Logue” means … something, and “lect” means… across.

Dialogue is (two or more people) tallking! Talking is dialogue. Let’s talk dialogue. Dialogue is (two or more people) tallking! Talking is dialogue. Here’s an example: I am lecturing to you right now. But when two or more people sit down to talk back and forth, they are having a dialogue. Even if they’re arguing!

In literature (stories, books, poems, any type of writing), dialogue is shown by using quotation marks around the spoken words. “ ” “Blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Read this dialogue between two friends, but only read the dialogue out loud! “Hey, Dude. What’s up?” asked Joe. “Nothing, man. How was the game this weekend?” asked Bob. “It was awesome! We won 30-0. It was a blow-out,” said Joe. “Cool,” Bob answered, “You guys are going to be the champs this year.”

So what’s dialect? In a nutshell, it’s just the different ways we all speak the same language. A dialect is the language used by people who live in a certain place. You can guess where a person is from or where he or she lives. Sometimes you can even guess a person's age!

Different types of dialect: Cajun African American English (AAE) Chicano English Midwestern Pittsburghese New York City Smoky Mountain Standard American English (SAE)

Take this quiz to hear some different American dialects.

Read this excerpt from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. “GIT up! What you 'bout? What you doin' with this gun?" I judged he didn't know nothing about what he had been doing, so I says: "Somebody tried to get in, so I was laying for him." "Why didn't you roust me out?" "Well, I tried to, but I couldn't; I couldn't budge you." "Well, all right. Don't stand there palavering all day, but out with you and see if there's a fish on the lines for breakfast. I'll be along in a minute." He unlocked the door, and I cleared out up the river-bank. I noticed some pieces of limbs and such things floating down, and a sprinkling of bark; so I knowed the river had begun to rise. I reckoned I would have great times now if I was over at the town.

What did you notice about the yellow highlighted words in the passage? Some wrong verb tenses. (I knowed.) Some different words, like “palevering” and “reckoned.” Some different expressions, like “roust me out”and “laying for him.”

So, we’ve found that a dialect can have three important differences: It can have different pronunciations. (Pronounce the word “think” and “thank” and listen to the difference between your pronunciation and your teacher’s. Next, try the word “oil.”) 2) It can have different vocabulary. (reckon, palavering, might could) 3) It can use different grammatical structures. (I knowed… We was… Me and him…)

Standard American English Now that we know that Americans may speak in many different dialects, how do we know which one is the acceptable one in colleges, the work world, or perhaps….language arts class? It’s called Standard American English (SAE).

Try these exercises in dialect. They are written in Smoky Mountain Dialect, and you must change them to SAE (Standard American English).

For more fun listening exercises in dialect, go the to International Dialect of English Archives @ www.dialectsarchive.com