Dialectology is often defined plainly as the study of one or more synchronic non-standard language systems (regional dialects, sometimes also regiolects) which form part of a more encompassing set of varieties, usually called a diasystem. The term ‘diasystem’ stands for the complete set of varieties (diachronic as well as diatopic-synchronic) supposed to derive from one ancestor; often a restriction is added in the sense that such a diasystem also presupposes a common standard language covering all synchronic varieties.

References

Busch, W. & U. Knoop & W. Putschke & H. E. Wiegand

(eds.) 1982 Dialektologie. De Gruyter.

Chambers, J. K. & P. Trudgill

1980 Dialectology. Cambridge University Press. .

Gumperz, J. J.

1982 Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press.

Jaberg, K. & J. Jud

1928 Der Sprachatlas als Forschungsinstrument.

Pop, S.

1950 La dialectologie. Recueil Université de Louvain.

Schouten, M. E. H. & P. T. Van Reenen

(eds.) 1989 New methods in dialectology. Foris.

Shuy, R. & W. Wolfram & W. Riley

1968 Field techniques in an urban language study. Center for Applied Linguistics.

Trudgill, P.

1983 On dialect. Blackwell.