advergence
English edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun edit
advergence (uncountable)
- (biology) The evolution of a mimic to resemble its model more closely.
- (linguistics) The evolution of a dialect to resemble the standard language more closely.
- 2005, Nicole Delbecque, Johan van der Auwera, Dirk Geeraerts, Perspectives on Variation, page 25:
- The main process in regiolect formation is dialect-to-standard advergence, but there are two caveats to this statement.
- 2010, Peter Auer, Jürgen Erich Schmidt, Theories and Methods, page 290:
- Horizontal convergence that causes divergence in a part of a formerly uniform dialect area can be, and often is, accompanied by vertical convergence, i.e., by advergence to the standard language.