Branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study. Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’ Lexicon

A regional accent refers to features of pronunciation against a geographical background. Accents may also convey social implications and be prestigious, neutral or low class.

A regional dialect refers to features of grammar and vocabulary against a geographical background. A regional dialect includes a distinctive regional accent but the reverse does not necessarily follow.

Dialect linguistics (areal linguistics, linguistic geography) is a subdiscipline of dialectology concerned with the investigation of the geographic distribution of linguistic phenomena. In dialect geography, phonetic, phonological, morphological, and lexical approaches are primarily employed.