Idiolects

Abstract

Idiolects are among the most neglected subjects of linguistic study, but the material for their investigation lies around us on every side. Our own linguistic peculiarities do not form a good starting-point; our habitual use of particular pronunciations or idioms prevents us from realising how unusual they are. When we are listening to a good lecture, we are too preoccupied with the speaker’s subject-matter to pay much attention to his manner of speaking, but a bad lecture provides ideal conditions for the study of the speaker’s idiolect. The use of the term does not mean that each linguistic feature is unique, though no doubt each speaker is unique in the possession of a particular set of linguistic features.