What a dialect is vs what a language is
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A *language* is a means of spoken, written, and/or signed communication.
People communicating with one language typically cannot fully understand or communicate with people communicating with a different language.
A *dialect* is a variation of a language that is *mutually intelligible* between speakers of the language.
Bob speaks Language X. Alice and Ted speak Language Y.
Bob cannot understand Alice or Ted, and vice versa, because they speak distinct languages.
Alice speaks Dialect A of Language Y. Ted speaks Dialect B of Language Y. Although they speak different dialects, Alice and Ted can still understand each other because both Dialects A and B are dialects of Language Y.
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