diglossia: Meaning and Definition of

di•glos•si•a

Pronunciation: (dī-glos'ē-u, -glô'sē-u), [key]
  1. the widespread existence within a society of sharply divergent formal and informal varieties of a language each used in different social contexts or for performing different functions, as the existence of Katharevusa and Demotic in modern Greece.
  2. the presence of two tongues or of a single tongue divided into two parts by a cleft.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.