In
sociolinguistics, is the level of
respect normally accorded to a specific
language or
dialect within a particular
speech community, relative to other languages or dialects. Sociolinguistic prestige is therefore one manifestation of, or analogous to, the more general phenomenon of
social stratification – especially
class. In general, a language or dialect associated with an
upper class has positive prestige, while a language or dialect associated with a lower class has "negative prestige". Historical examples of prestige languages include the court languages used by
royal elites. At the opposite extreme, members of
underclasses have often communicated in particular forms of
cant.