What's an idiolect?
Our idiolect is our personal style of language. It is part of our identity.
The words we choose, the expressions we use, the way we put them all together, our accent and intonation, and our body language all contribute to our idiolect. The word idiolect comes from the Greek words idio (personal) and (dia)lektos (talk/speech).
Our idiolect is the result of a number of factors: where we live, our family background, our audience, whether we are speaking face-to-face, by phone or online, and our purpose for speaking.
Now is your chance to do some role playing!
- Choose some well-known television or film characters, for example, Homer Simpson and Ned Flanders, or real personalities such as a sportsperson, television personality or politician.
- Script, and act out, short scenes between different characters.
- Explain what you can learn about each character from their idiolect: their accent, the words they choose, they way they put words together, their intonation and their body language.
Reflect on your idiolect; what identity do you present to the world?
