noun
countryside dialect; rural speech
Linguistics term for a dialect spoken in rural areas, often contrasted with city speech.
この地域の里言葉には古い表現が多く残っている。
Many old expressions remain in the countryside dialect of this region.
noun
Edo-period red-light district sociolect; secret language of prostitutes
Historical linguistics term for a specialized jargon used by prostitutes in Edo-period pleasure quarters; not in modern use.
江戸時代の遊郭で使われた里言葉は、外部の人には通じない隠語だった。
The secret language used in Edo-period red-light districts was a jargon unintelligible to outsiders.
方言 is the general term for 'dialect', while 里言葉 specifically refers to rural or countryside dialects, often with a nuance of being old-fashioned or local.
隠語 is a general term for 'secret language' or 'jargon', while 里言葉 in its second sense refers specifically to the historical sociolect of Edo-period red-light districts.
Compound of 里 (sato, 'countryside, village') and 言葉 (kotoba, 'word, language'). The second sense derives from the use of such rural-sounding speech as a coded language in Edo-period pleasure quarters.