IDIOLECT. An “idiolect” is, by definition, a linguistic entity
that may be contrasted with the “dialect.” Dubois et al. (1973,
p. 144) wrote, “The ‘dialect’ is a form of a language which has
its own lexical, syntactic and phonetic system, and which is
used in a more restricted environment than the language itself.”
Thus, every dialect appears in the form of a “system.” On the
other hand, they added (p. 249, slightly modified on the
suggestion of Vergote; cf. Kasser, 1980, p. 78), “By ‘idiolect’
we denote the totality of the data produced by a single person,
established by reference to linguistic constants which subtend
them, and which are envisaged as specific idioms or systems; the
idiolect is then the totality of the uses of a language peculiar
to a given individual at a fixed time.” Thus, despite the
preferential uses that can be observed in it, always fluctuating
and essentially transitory, the idiolect does not present itself
to the observer in the form of a stable system; it is, rather,
the accidental a