:Lect:

An accent in the sense of a variety of pronunciation. The term lect is used to mean an accent without regard to its individuating or social connotations. Lect is also used in a number of combinations such as idiolect , meaning the speech characteristics of an individual, sociolect, the characteristics displayed by a particular social group. Other terms are acrolect , mesolect and basilect , which denote accents of high, middle and low prestige respectively.