Word/term meaning "conversion from one dialect to another"?
Is there a word in linguistics that means conversion from one dialect to another dialect?
In most sources in which I've looked¹, the word "translation" only means conversion of one language to another language. In some sources², the definition given is broad enough to where it could be used in such a way; however, in none of them is the word "dialect" or any such "-lect" derivative (e.g. ideolect, sociolect, ethnolect, etc.) mentioned in such a way.
So my questions are thus:
Is there a word meaning conversion from one dialect to another dialect of the same language?
Is there a word meaning conversion from a dialect of one language to a dialect of another language?
Can the word translate mean this type of conversion?
I also jumped to translate in the "related terms" tool on the right-hand side of the OED and looked at other trans- words that I didn't recognise, but I couldn't discover a word that meant this.
¹ These Wikipedia articles:
- Translation
- Dialect
- Dialectometry
- Dialectology
² These (probably more reliable) webpages (I put the relevant text is bold):
- Translate, Oxford English Dictionary (OED): {Subscription required}
→
pt. I, sec. 1, def. a:To bear, convey, or remove from one person, place or condition to another; to transfer, transport→
pt. II, sec. 2, def. a:also, to express in other words, to paraphrase. (The chief current sense.)→
pt. II, sec. 2, def. b:to make a version from one language or form of words into another.
- Translate, Merriam-Webster
→
pt. I, sec. 1, def. a:to bear, remove, or change from one place, state, form, or appearance to another→
pt. I, sec. 2, def. b:to transfer or turn from one set of symbols into another[This is sometimes transliteration, true, but oftentimes the differences between dialects lie in their spelling (e.g. US vs UK spellings), so in these cases it can be considered both.]
→
pt. I, sec. 2, def. c:to express in different terms and especially different words[Since you can convert to different dialects just by changing a few letters (see above about pt. 1, sec. 2, def. b), I'd like to point out that I'm looking for a word that refers to all conversions of this type, not just at the level of words. Basically, we're talking just a word that means conversion from dialect to dialect, with no orthographic size specified.]
Solution 1:
I don't think that there is a specific word for this, but you could use interpret here.
To translate from one language into another.
(thefreedictionary.com)
The words of that dialect were interpreted in this one.
And yes, you could use translate for this purpose.
Solution 2:
(1) I would use the word render (render dialect A into dialect B) to get around that problem. It has the advantage of carrying the meaning of "to translate" while having a broader sense of casting something/someone into a particular mode.
(2) Wouldn't this be simply translation? As long as you're doing it between languages, it shouldn't matter whether you're moving between the standard languages or some smaller subsets.
(3) Did you mean the type of conversion referred to in question 2?