List of prestige dialects

A prestige dialect is the dialect that is considered most prestigious by the members of that speech community. In nearly all cases, the prestige dialect is also the dialect spoken by the most prestigious members of that community, often the people who have political, economic, or social power.

A

*Arabic – In the Arab League countries, Modern Standard Arabic is considered the H-language, or high-prestige language. In contrast to most prestige dialects, it is not used in day-to-day conversation, but is rather reserved for literature and elevated or formal discourse. It is not commonly used in everyday conversation.

*Assyrian Neo-Aramaic – Among modern Assyrian people, '' Iraq Koine'' is widely considered to be a prestige form of speech, where it is the standard variety in the Assyrian social and political media, and the Assyrian church. ''Iraqi Koine'' is a " watered down", merger dialect of the rather coarse Assyrian tribal varieties of the mountains and the classically prestigious ''Urmian'' dialect (spoken by Iranian Assyrians), but would lack the harshness of the rural dialects and the superfluous Persian influence of the Urmian dialect. Maclean, Arthur John (1895). ''Grammar of the dialects of vernacular Syriac: as spoken by the Eastern Syrians of Kurdistan, north-west Persia, and the Plain of Mosul: with notices of the vernacular of the Jews of Azerbaijan and of Zakhu near Mosul''. Cambridge University Press, London. In the 19th and early 20th century, or at least up to the 1980s, the ''Urmian'' dialect was a standard literary dialect of Assyrian, chosen by an American Presbyterian missioner Justin Perkins in 1836. In the late 20th century, Assyrians gradually started to mix with each other and spoke ''Iraqi Koine'', as Iraq had an influx of Assyrians from different villages settling there.

C

* Chinese:
** Mandarin – Specifically the Standard Mandarin variant based on the Beijing dialect as spoken by the commoners of the early to mid 20th century. There are differences in the way this standard is defined between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. In Taiwan, for instance, the Standard Mandarin was not based on the commoner's usage of the Beijing dialect but the variety of this dialect as used by the educated class at the time.
** Cantonese – Considered the prestige variety of Yue Chinese variants, based on the dialect of Guangzhou City and the surrounding areas, including Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi), Hong Kong and Macau.
** Shanghainese – Considered the prestige variety of Wu Chinese variants, based on the dialect of Shanghai City and the surrounding districts, having replaced Suzhounese in this role in the 19th century.
** Southern Min (Hokkien-Taiwanese) – also known as the Quan-Zhang variety of Southern Min, is the mainstream form of Southern Min. The Modern Standard Southern Min dialect is based on Taiwanese Hokkien which includes the Taiwanese prestige accent.

D

*Dutch – Standard Dutch is considered most prestigious when no clear traces of a speaker's dialect can be recognised.

E

*English – In the UK, the prestige dialect is often considered to be Received Pronunciation whereas General Australian English and Cultivated South African English have traditionally been the prestige dialect in those countries. The United States is said to have no single prestige dialect. However, American dictionaries, broadcast journalists, and stage, cinema, and television actors favor General American as the standard form of American speech. Before 1945, Mid-Atlantic English enjoyed a high level of prestige. In modern India, Indian English, a slightly Indianized version of English having some influence of Indian local languages is generally used in practice.

F

*Filipino - is the standardised version of the Manila Tagalog dialect that is used as the national lingua franca in the Philippines. It is used as the language of media in the Philippines instead of or aside from English.

* French
**France – Standard French is based on the dialect of Paris.
**United States – Colonial French (also Plantation Society French) is considered the prestige dialect of Louisiana French, though it is deemed virtually extinct due to gradual assimilation with standard Cajun French.

H

*Hindi Belt – the Dehlavi dialect (Hindustani) is the prestige dialect, and the basis of both Modern Standard Hindi and Modern Standard Urdu