Which has more dialects Spanish or English?

Question

I was wondering becuse I have heard many dialects of English and soo many countries speak Spanish. If you know the answer can you also please put the # of dialects each language has. Thanks

I don't think anyone could agree how many dialects there in England alone. - ian-hill, Apr 3, 2011

Answer 1

First we would need to stablish some criteria to determine exactly what we mean by dialects, because some academic experts see 4 languages in a country where other see 10, or a continuum of nearly uncountable variations. You can draw maps that show the distribution of one or several particular sounds, or do a similar thing for grammatical constructions, or the use of certain terms, but then you'll realise that each of these maps looks different from the rest, and although there are certain areas with many common features, the picture is far too complex to divide the world with a ruler and a pencil.

I agree with that - I just tried and gave up. - ian-hill, Apr 3, 2011

Thank You - Abhinair66, Apr 3, 2011

establish - BellaMargarita, Apr 3, 2011

You see that with the argument over whether Galician is separate language or just a variant of Portuguese. - BellaMargarita, Apr 3, 2011

In the introduction to Pigmilion, Shaw talks about a linguist who could tell from hearing someone speak exactly what part of London they were from, down to the very street. - rabbitwho, Apr 3, 2011

"Stablish" is an old spelling, but it can be found in dictionaries. - lazarus1907, Apr 3, 2011