方ほう言げん連れん続ぞく体たい

noun

dialect continuum; dialect chain

Linguistic term for a range of dialects spoken across a geographical area where adjacent varieties are mutually intelligible but distant ones are not.

• 日本にほん語ごの方ほう言げん連れん続ぞく体たいは、地ち域いきによって大おおきく異ことなる。

  The Japanese dialect continuum varies greatly by region.