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idiolect

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Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

noun The speech of an individual, considered as a linguistic pattern unique among speakers of his or her language or dialect.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

noun (Linguistics) the language or speech of one individual at a particular period in life.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

noun linguistics The language variant used by a specific individual.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

noun the language or speech of one individual at a particular period in life

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[idio– + (dia)lect.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Blend of idiom and dialect

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The word idiolect has been adopted by Jan Freeman—forever!—with godparents Geoff and Tricia Pullum.

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Examples

Experts have tried putting a figure on it, and there have been various groupings going from six to 16, but you can carry on sub-dividing that down until you get to what serious students of this subject refer to as the idiolect.

WalesOnline - Home 2011
Experts have tried putting a figure on it, and there have been various groupings going from six to 16, but you can carry on sub-dividing that down until you get to what serious students of this subject refer to as the idiolect.

WalesOnline - Home 2011
"idiolect" -- the vehicle of thought unique to each person, the basic layer.

VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XIX No 3 1993
"The notion of 'idiolect' therefore, must be as preoccupied with derivation and idiosynchratic patterns of influence as it is with individuality."

Word Magazine - Comments 2009
May 9, 2009 3: 40 PM idiolect replied to asseenontv

Ask Professor Foxy: Does My Size and Not Flirting Keep Me Alone? - Feministing 2009
May 9, 2009 12: 11 PM dormouse replied to idiolect

Ask Professor Foxy: Does My Size and Not Flirting Keep Me Alone? - Feministing 2009
When I was talking about sentential hopefully, I said that hopefully meaning “in a hopeful manner” had pretty much fallen out of my idiolect.

2010 February « Motivated Grammar 2010
May 9, 2009 1: 10 PM asseenontv replied to idiolect

Ask Professor Foxy: Does My Size and Not Flirting Keep Me Alone? - Feministing 2009
And @idiolect - anxiety can definitely be a clinical problem but as I read it here, I think there is a correlation to weight.

Ask Professor Foxy: Does My Size and Not Flirting Keep Me Alone? - Feministing 2009
May 9, 2009 4: 08 PM asseenontv replied to idiolect

Ask Professor Foxy: Does My Size and Not Flirting Keep Me Alone? - Feministing 2009

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Comments

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fbharjo commented on the word idiolect

ideolect wordie is idiolect to the nth degree

December 29, 2006
srkrause commented on the word idiolect

Maybe it's how we got "W"!

March 1, 2008
MaryW commented on the word idiolect

As a sociolinguist, I study the science of language in its social context. I began my lecture by describing the different ways that linguists subcategorize languages. Dialects, which most people are familiar with, are regional varieties of a language, like Texan or Midwestern English. But there are also ethnolects, associated with specific ethnic groups, like Chicano and Jewish English, and genderlects which refer to the distinctive ways that women and men talk.
An idiolect is not the language of idiots, but an idiosyncratic form of language that is unique to an individual. No two individuals—not even family members living under the same roof—speak the exact same language. We all pronounce words slightly differently, have different inflections in our voices, and choose different words to refer to the same thing.
Jennifer Sclafani, The Idolect of Donald Trump, Scientific American Mind blog, March 16, 2016

October 10, 2016