multidialectaladj.
/ˌmʌltɪdʌɪəˈlɛktl/, U.S. /ˈˌməltiˌdaɪəˈlɛkt(ə)l/; see also multi- comb. form. Able to speak or understand two or more dialects of the same language. Also: dealing with or involving several dialects.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > dialect > [adjective] > having more than one dialect > (of a person) having one or many dialects
bidialectal1954
multidialectal1964
monodialectal1969
bidialectalist1973
1964 Eng. Stud. 45 27 The individual will acquire either a new dialect, or a new accent, or both. This does not mean..that he thereby loses his former variety of English, but simply that he becomes ‘multi-dialectal’ in English.
1965 A. H. Marckwardt in Language 41 146 Certainly a fourteenth-century Englishman with Chaucer's range of experience would have been multidialectal.
1977 G. P. Delahunty in D. Ó Muirithe Eng. Lang. in Ireland 144 By regarding languages which have been in contact with each other..as relatable to multi-dialectal situations, it becomes possible to understand the social organisation of language choice.
1985 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 30 454 This work is a very comprehensive multidialectal lexicon of Ojibwa.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1964