The term dialect (from Latin dialectus, dialectos, from the ancient Greek word dialektos, "discourse", from dia, "through" and lego, "I speak") is used in two distinct ways to refer to two different types of linguistic phenomena.

One usagethe more common among linguistsrefers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect, a dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed as ethnolect, and a regional dialect may be termed a regiolect. According to this definition, any variety of a language constitutes "a dialect", including any standard varieties.

The other usage refers to a language that is socially subordinated to a regional or national standard language, often historically cognate or related to the standard language, but not actually derived from it. In this sense, unlike in the first usage, the standard language would not itself be considered a "dialect," as it is the dominant language in a particular state or region, whether in terms of social or political status, official status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. Meanwhile, the "dialects" subordinate to the standard language are generally not variations on the standard language but rather separate (but often related) languages in and of themselves. For example, most of the various regional Romance languages of Italy, often colloquially referred to as Italian "dialects," are, in fact, not actually derived from modern standard Italian, but rather evolved from Vulgar Latin separately and individually from one another and independently of standard Italian, long prior to the diffusion of a national standardized language throughout what is now Italy. These various Latin-derived regional languages are therefore, in a linguistic sense, not truly "dialects" of the standard Italian language, but are instead better defined as their own separate languages. Conversely, with the spread of standard Italian throughout Italy in the 20th century, various regional versions or varieties of standard Italian developed, generally as a mix of the national standard Italian with local regional languages and local accents. These variations on standard Italian, known as regional Italian, would more appropriately be called "dialects" in accordance with the first linguistic definition of "dialect," as they are in fact derived partially or mostly from standard Italian.

What are the answers to this following set of questions:

1. How many ways is the term dialect used?
2. What is a dialect related to a class?
3. What about a regional dialect?
4. What about a dialect related to a certain ethnicity?
5. How many types of linguistic phenomena?
6. What is the standard language not considered in the other usage?
7. Where are the regional Italian dialects actually derived from?
8. What caused the development of regional versions or varieties of standard Italian?
9. What are variations on standard Italian known as?
10. What is the origin of the term dialect?
1. in two ways
2. a sociolect
3. a regiolect.
4. as ethnolect
5. two ways
6. unknown
7. from Vulgar Latin
8. a mix of national and local
9. they are known as regional Italian
10. from the Greek word for "discourse"