Dialektologi

terjemahan dari artikel berbahasa Indonesia menjadi Bahasa inggris tentang dialektologi 

Dialectology is a branch of linguistics that studies dialects or variations of a language within a specific community. This field examines language variation based on geographic distribution, as shown through language maps, and includes topics such as the branching of two local dialects from the same parent language and synchronic variation. In other words, dialectology specifically studies language variations in all their aspects, including grammar, lexicon, and phonology in particular regions.

Dialectology is then divided into two main subfields: dialect geography and sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistics studies language variation based on social patterns. In other words, sociolinguistics examines the co-variation between linguistic structures and social structures. Conversely, dialect geography studies language variations based on local differences within a language area. In other words, dialect geography reveals facts about the spread of linguistic features now recorded as dialect characteristics.

This field not only considers communities that have lived in a region for generations but also immigrant groups that bring their languages to new areas (language contact). The contact between one language or dialect and another can create various language variations. Communities in any region always have their own language or dialect as a group identity. This language or dialect has distinctive characteristics that differ from those in other regions or among the general population. Such differences occur due to the geographic conditions of language users' areas being adjacent to those of other language or dialect users. In linguistics, these variations are referred to as lexical variation.

Language and Dialect:

According to Lauder (2002), one of the most challenging theoretical issues in linguistics is determining the precise, accurate, and comprehensive criteria for distinguishing between a language and a dialect. This directly impacts the classification of all languages and the counting of the number of languages worldwide. These issues are fundamental problems that linguistics must address. Branches of linguistics directly related to these problems include Language Typology, Historical Comparative Linguistics, and Dialectology.

The distinction between language and dialect remains a long-standing debate among dialectologists. At first glance, distinguishing between a language and a dialect should not be problematic because, conceptually, a dialect is a subdivision of a language. However, in practical terms, it is not as straightforward as it seems. Determining criteria for concluding whether two language variations in a region are distinct languages or two dialects of the same language is not easy.

In the KBBI (Indonesian Dictionary), a dialect is defined as a variation of language that differs among users. Petyt defines it as a language variation within a language community that refers to characteristics based on geographic and social origins of speakers. Meanwhile, Dhanawaty describes dialect as a language variation based on the geographic factors of speakers. From these definitions, it can be concluded that a dialect is a variation of a language within a community based on the geographic characteristics of its speakers.

sumber: https://p2k.stekom.ac.id/ensiklopedia/Dialektologi