Definition
方言 (fāng yán) refers to a regional language variety with its own vocabulary and grammar, like Cantonese or Shanghainese. 口音 (kǒu yīn) is narrower—it means the accent or pronunciation of a speaker, not the whole language system. So you speak 方言 (a dialect) but have 口音 (an accent).
noun
dialecttopolect (a regional variety of a language)
Examples
- 方言，。Wǒ nǎinai zhǐ huì shuō fāng yán, bú huì shuō pǔtōnghuà.My grandmother only speaks a dialect, not Mandarin.
- 方言，闽。Zhōngguó yǒu hěn duō bùtóng de fāng yán, bǐrú yuèyǔ hé mǐnnányǔ.China has many different dialects, such as Cantonese and Southern Min.
- 方言。Xué fāng yán néng bāngzhù nǐ gèng shēnrù liǎojiě dāngdì wénhuà.Learning a dialect can help you gain a deeper understanding of the local culture.
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