Högskolan i Skövde

The concept of 'dialect' is often regarded as self-explanatory and therefore considered not requiring a definition. In cases where definitions do exist, the concept is normally understood as one-dimensional, i.e. the dialect is defined as a diatopic variety, meaning that a functional connection between linguistic criteria and extralinguistic factors of a spatial kind is possible to retrieve. Multi-dimensional dialect definitions are rare, but sometimes concept criteria of diastratic, historical or structure-linguistic kinds are added. The spatial component is scarcely analyzed, with the consequence that the dialec´s relation to spatial aspects appears highly vague. Furthermore, an analysis of the methodology and research praxis of dialectology shows that the concept of 'regional dialect' prevalent within Nordic studies in Sweden is mainly historical but also highly idealized. A functional definition of the concept of 'regional dialect' must be multi-dimensional (encompassing diatopic, diastratic and diaphatic  aspects) and relate, probably to a higher degree than it does today, to functional rather than structure-linguistic concept criteria.