an appellation given to the language of a province, in so far as it differs from that of the whole kingdom. The term, however, is more particularly used in speaking of the ancient Greek, of which there were four dialects, the Attic, Ionic, Æolic, and Doric, each of which was a perfect language in its kind, was used in certain countries, and possessed peculiar beauties.

In Great Britain, besides the grand diversity of English and Scotch, almost every county has a dialect of its own, all differing considerably in pronunciation, accent, and tone, although one and the same language.