In linguistics, a sociolect is the language spoken by a social group, social class or subculture. In this regard it differs from the dialect, which is the language variant spoken in a certain region, although some sociolects may be high status dialects, and the idiolect, which is the language variant of an individual.
Sociolect is also distinct from dialect, which is a form of speech peculiar to a certain area.
For example, Parisian French is a dialect in that it is peculiar to the city of Paris, but it is a sociolect in that it is the national prestige language, and is used throughout the country by people of high social status.
The concept dialect is distinguished from sociolect, which is a variety of a language spoken by a certain social stratum, from standard language, which is standardized for public performance (e.g.
Those who identify a particular dialect as the "standard" or "proper" version of a language are in fact using these terms to express a social distinction.
\nOften, the standard language is close to the sociolect of the elite class.
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