mesolect

English

Etymology

From meso- +‎ -lect.

Noun

mesolect (plural mesolects)

  1. (sociolinguistics) A variety of speech that is midway between the acrolect and the basilect.
    Coordinate terms: acrolect, basilect
    • 1973 Sep, Derek Bickerton, “The Nature of a Creole Continuum”, in Language‎[1], 49(3), page 642:
      [...] one characteristic of the mesolect seems to be that it contains, not merely forms from the polar lects, but forms which in function, if not always in phonetic shape, are peculiar to itself.

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