Home › Glossary › Letter L

low-prestige dialect

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Dialects considered less prestigious, often represented in vernacular poetry.

Detailed Definition
Low-prestige dialect refers to regional, sociolectal, or non-standard forms of language historically devalued in literary contexts but employed by poets to convey authenticity, cultural identity, or social critique; its use challenges linguistic hierarchies and enriches poetic voice, as seen in Scots poetry by Robert Burns or African American Vernacular English in Gwendolyn Brooks.
Example
Example in poetry:
low-prestige dialect (The use of a regional or social language variation considered less educated or less formal than the standard language); Poetry written entirely in an extremely localized Scottish dialect; The use of American Southern 'Ebonics' or AAVE in a contemporary poem
Additional Notes
Language variety considered less educated or socially accepted, used in poetry to capture authenticity, regional voice, or to challenge literary norms; related to vernacular, slang, or dialect poetry.
Also Known As
Non-standard dialect Vernacular speech Colloquial dialect Basilectal register
Skip to main content