An idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. It is manifested by patterns of word selection and grammar, or words, phrases, idioms, or pronunciations that are unique to that individual. Every individual has an idiolect; the grouping of words and phrases is unique, rather than an individual using specific words that nobody else uses. An idiolect can easily evolve into an ecolect—a dialect variant specific to a household. A variety of a language is a form that differs from other forms of the language systematically and coherently. ... For the surname, see Grammer. ... An idiom is an expression (i. ... An ecolect is a language dialect unique to a household (from the Greek eco (oikos) for house, as in economy or ecology, and lect for language). ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ...

Forensic linguists can use idiolects to decide if a certain person did or did not produce a given piece of writing (or transcribed speech). The supposed confession of Derek Bentley was inconsistent with his idiolect, and modern analysis of the confession led to a posthumous pardon.^{[citation needed]} The family of the Unabomber recognized his idiolect and informed the police of their suspicions. Forensic linguistics is the name given to a number of sub-disciplines within applied linguistics, and which relate to the interface between language, the law and crime. ... Derek Bentley (30 June 1933 - 28 January 1953) was hanged at the age of 19 for a murder committed by a friend, creating a cause célèbre and leading to a 45-year long successful campaign to win him a posthumous pardon. ... Unabomber is a nickname applied to three people: Theodore Kaczynski, an American terrorist. ...

While often passing unnoticed in speech, some idiolects, particularly unusual ones employed by famous individuals, are immortalized in the form of nicknames. A famous example is the nickname of Willie Mays ("the Say-Hey Kid"), who frequently used "say hey". Template:Infobox baseball player/alive and well Willie Howard Mays Jr. ...

Idiolect and language

Depending on whom you ask, idiolects are either derived from abstract, standardized language ideas, defended by "authorities" (such as dictionary editors), or languages are congruences of idiolects and thus exist only in the intersection between individual speakers. While the "truth," should it exist, most likely lies on a continuum between these extremes, each proposition provides a useful model for language analysis. A more traditional scientific approach is encapsulated in the first sense. The second sense of the idiolect has become a base for investigating language evolution on a genetic model: the existence of the species (individual language) is extrapolated from a multitude of organisms (idiolects) with common features. Each species evolves through changes in the individual organisms. Idiolects change through contact with other idiolects, and change throughout their lifetime as well as from generation to generation. Overall, languages must select for compatibility with the learning capacity of immature human brains. Idiolects, however, have such a large capacity for change, particularly in the current era with increasing contact between many different people, that the systematic aspects of language that are the traditional arena of linguistic study are constantly in flux. In linguistics, semantic analysis is the process of relating syntactic structures, from the levels of phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs to the level of the text as a whole, to their language-independent meanings, removing features specific to particular linguistic and cultural contexts, to the extent that such a project... For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... DNA, the molecular basis for inheritance. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... sBold text == Headline text ==please edit this page!!!!! omething Gisela does not have These where evolved into our heads. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ...

As of yet, there is no general theory of communication based on idiolects. Most importantly, however, whether language is a pre-determined convention or a fluid construction of each moment of communication, there are general cognitive abilities that all humans share in order to communicate. These tools, inherent to symbolic communication, include the ability to assess a situation and provide appropriate information, access to both short and long term memory functions, the ability to differentiate and conceptualize past, present, and future, and the ability to recognize that other human brains also use these and other tools to represent their internal states and understand the representation of others' internal states. Sort of a monkey see...? The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... Communication is a process that allows people to exchange information by one of several methods. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In psychology, memory is an organisms ability to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. ...

See also

• Catch phrase

A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ...

References

• Johansson, Sverker. "The Individual and the Species in the Cultural Evolution of Language." presented at Evolutionary Epistemology, Language & Culture Brussels, May 2004 (see http://hem.hj.se/~lsj/publicat.htm)
• Mufwene, Salikoko S. "Competition and Selection in Language Evolution." Selection 3 (2002) 1, 45-56 http://www.akkrt.hu/journals/select
• Penco, Carlo. "Idiolect and Context." The Library of Living Philosophers: Micheal Dummett, 2004 (see http://www.dif.unige.it/epi/hp/penco/papers.htm)

External links

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry