Dialect levelling

Dialect levelling is the means by which dialect differences decrease. For example, in rural areas of Britain, although English is widely spoken, the pronunciation and grammar have historically varied. During the 20th century people have been moving into towns and cities, standardizing the English language.

Dialect levelling is occurring in some African languages as well.

See also

• Koiné language
• Language convergence
• Dialect continuum
• Mutual intelligibility