Language in AP Human Geography
By Maggie Kenney
Dialects
A dialect is a regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. Speakers of one dialect can usually understand speakers of another dialect as long as they speak the same language. When speakers of a language migrate to new locations, various dialects of that language will develop. British Received Pronunciation is the the commonly accepted standard dialect of English.
Creole and Pidgin Languages
A creole language is defined as a language that results from the mixing of the colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated. Also, creole languages evolved from pidgin languages after many hundreds of years. The world creole derives from a word in several Romance languages for a slave who is born in the master's house. An example of a creole language is the mix of English and French in Haiti. A map of Haiti is shown below.
Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca us a language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native language.