first language
Mother tongue equivalent
A first language is the language a person learns from birth or early childhood, typically from parents or caregivers.
Also called a native language or mother tongue.
The term often appears in contexts distinguishing native speakers from those who learned a language later: English is her first language, but she's also fluent in Mandarin.
One who grew up speaking it
- fluencySmooth linguistic command
- bilingualismProficiency in two languages
- comprehensionMental understanding of meaning
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
vocabulary · grammar · pronunciation · accent · immersion · critical period · interference · attrition
Everyday regional speech
- homelandOne's native land
- cultural identityBelonging through shared traditions
- ethnicOf a cultural group
- traditionCustom passed through generations
dialect · indigenous · diaspora · roots · birthright · community · generational · revival
Science of language sounds
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
sociolinguistics · lexicon · code-switching · diglossia · substrate · interlanguage · universal grammar · parameters
native speaker
One who grew up speaking it
- fluencySmooth linguistic command
- bilingualismProficiency in two languages
- comprehensionMental understanding of meaning
expression · vocabulary · grammar · pronunciation · accent · immersion · critical period · interference · attrition · maintenance
vernacular
Everyday regional speech
- homelandOne's native land
- cultural identityBelonging through shared traditions
- ethnicOf a cultural group
tradition · dialect · indigenous · diaspora · roots · birthright · community · generational · revival · reclamation
phonology
Science of language sounds
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
pragmatics · sociolinguistics · lexicon · code-switching · diglossia · substrate · interlanguage · universal grammar · parameters · L1
- language educationbilingual, biliteracy, immersion, literacy skills, reading
- language typespidgin, creole, vernacular, patois, argot
- language varietiesdialect, idiolect, sociolect, vernacular, accent
- Language Acquisitionbilingualism, interlanguage, universal grammar, critical period, nativism
- psycholinguisticsword recognition, priming, aphasia, bilingualism, phonemes
- language skillsspeaking, reading, writing, listening, fluent
first languagesecond language
Tongue learned after childhood
foreign language · third language · target language · auxiliary language · lingua franca
first, language, tongue, tongues, lingua franca, mother tongue, native tongue, native language, native languages