koine

Definition

A linguistic variety that has developed in supraregional contact between speakers of various interrelated dialects, typically in such a way that features shared by several dialects prevail and those of limited distribution are avoided.

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κοινή (koinḗ), feminine form of κοινός (koinós, “common, general”). Doublet of koinon.

Example Sentences

• "If a dominant language was spoken in the area of such trade routes, then this dominant language became the ‘interlanguage’, as it is called. Such an interlanguage, or koiné, is a simplified dialect with which speakers of two or more quite different dialects communicate with one another."
• "Now, another term for that product is koine, which, however, I have regularly […] employed in reference to the infrastructure (procedural, juridical, formal, cultural) that enables and informs composition of a lingua franca. […] In linguistic scholarship koine mostly (!) refers to a standard language expanded by input from several dialectal sources with concomitant levelling of morphological and syntactic differences and adoption of a general and possibly restricted lexicon."