All 3 Uses of

inferior
in
Do You Speak American?

Our question implies still another: Do you consider the American you speak superior or inferior to the speech of your fellow Americans from other regions, social classes, or ethnic groups?†
Chpt Intr. *

inferior = (adjective) of low quality, or of lower quality or rank than something else OR (more rarely as a noun) a person of lower rank or status

In his study of the history of immigration and language, The English-Only Question, Dennis Baron wrote: Settled Americans have been reluctant to accept newcomers, regarding them as socially, economically, and racially inferior, more insistent on special concessions like bilingual ballots, and on government handouts, and less willing to assimilate than earlier generations had been.†
Chpt 5

William Raspberry of the Washington Post approvingly quoted one of the plaintiff lawyers: "When a 5-year-old has his language system treated as inferior from his first day of school, the resulting psychological damage is inevitable.†
Chpt 6

Definitions:

(1) (inferior)
of low quality, or of lower quality or rank than something else -- sometimes used as a noun to refer to a person of lower rank or status
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Less commonly, specialized senses include:
- anatomy and botany -- a lower position on a body or plant (or pointed downward)
- typography -- a character that drops beneath a printing line (such as with subscript)
- astronomy -- having an orbit relative to the sun that is lower than earth's (making Mercury and Venus inferior planets)