L-complex

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English

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Noun

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L-complex (plural L-complexes)

  1. (linguistics) Synonym of dialect continuum.
    • 1981, Curtis McFarland, A linguistic atlas of the Philippines, page 9:
      If on the other hand there are speech varieties in the group which are not mutually intelligible with some other members ― like A and C in the example above ― then the group is defined as an L-complex.
    • 2013, Rainer Vossen, The Khoesan Languages, page 9:
      !Xun can be described as an L-complex, that is, as a cluster of speech forms that are linked by a chain of mutual intelligibility, but speakers at the extreme ends of the chain do not understand one another.