mesolectaladj.
/ˌmɛsə(ʊ)ˈlɛktl/, U.S. /ˌmɛzoʊˈlɛkt(ə)l/; see also meso- comb. form. Linguistics.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a mesolect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > dialect > [adjective] > terms relating to social or class dialects
patois1783
non-U1954
sociolectal1968
acrolectal1971
mesolectal1976
basilectal1977
1976 Ann. Rev. Anthropol. 5 180 The Guyanese mesolectal pronoun system comes into being by the establishment of an across-the-board gender distinction which obliterates a preexisting case distinction in the basilect.
1988 P. A. Roberts W. Indians & their Lang. v. 123 Rather than..early basilectal acquisition followed by gradual mesolectal (near to English) acquisition, there is early acquisition of most variants.
1998 Eng. Today Apr. 37/2 His other well-known diagramme is the cline of bilingualism with its continuum from basilectal through mesolectal to acrolectal, the last represented by, for example, major international newspapers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1976