dialect continuum

In SOCIOLINGUISTICS, a term used to describe a chain of DIALECTS spoken throughout an area; also called a dialect chain. At any point in the chain, speakers of a dialect can understand the speakers of other dialects who live adjacent to them; but people who live further away may be difficult or impossible to understand. For example, an extensive continuum links the modern dialects of German and Dutch, running from Belgium through the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria to Switzerland.