View source for Dialect continuum

[[File:Aujourd'hui.JPG|thumb|How the French word ''aujourd'hui'' (English: today) is said in different areas]]
A '''dialect continuum''' is a group of language [[dialect]]s that change over an area. In a dialect continuum, two dialects are more different when they are farther away from each other. People in the dialect continuum who are nearby may understand each other when they speak. People far away from each other may have trouble understanding each other or may not understand each other at all. For example if a certain area speaks in a specific accent, it would be difficult for people from the same region but different area to understand and communicate. 



== Dialect Continuum Media ==
<gallery widths='160px' heights='100%' mode='traditional' caption=''>
File:West Germanic dialect diagram.svg|Local dialects of the West Germanic continuum are oriented towards either Standard Dutch or Standard German, depending on which side of the international border they are spoken.{{sfnp|Chambers|Trudgill|1998|p=10}}

File:Dialect continua in Europe.svg|Major dialect continua in Europe in the mid-20th century{{sfnp|Chambers|Trudgill|1998|p=6}}{{efn|[[Carpathian Ruthenia]] is mistakenly excluded from North Slavic on the map, even though [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]], an East Slavic dialect group on the transition to West Slavic, is spoken there.}}

File:West Germanic dialect continuum (according to Wiesinger, Heeringa & König).png|The varieties of the continental West Germanic dialect continuum after 1945:{{legend|#df772a|[[Frisian languages|Frisian]]}}*{{legend|#8c506e|[[Low Franconian]]}}*{{legend|#3e9abc|[[Low Saxon]]/[[Low German]]}}*{{legend|#f5ef47| [[Central German]] (part of [[High German languages|High German]])}}*{{legend|#ecca09| [[Upper German]] (part of [[High German languages|High German]])}}

File:Romance languages accurate.png|Romance languages in Europe

File:South_Slavic_dialect_continuum.svg|South Slavic dialect continuum with major dialect groups

File:Map of sinitic languages cropped-en.svg|Areas of Chinese dialect groups
</gallery>
{{stub}}

[[Category:Language]]