INDEX:
1. the words used by the people in a particular country or area
2. the use of words to communicate
3. the first language that you learn as a child
4. when someone can speak more than one language
5. the language used by a particular group of people
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ SPEAK
↑ TRANSLATE
↑ WORD/PHRASE/SENTENCE
↑ MEANING
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1. the words used by the people in a particular country or area
▷ language /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [countable noun]
a system of words, phrases, and grammar that is used by the people who live in a particular country :
speak a language
▪ ‘What language do they speak in Brazil?’ ‘Portuguese.’
▪ She can speak four different languages - French, German, English, and Dutch.
foreign language
▪ Every pupil has to learn at least one foreign language.
official language
the language used by the government
▪ English is the island’s official language, but people also speak French and Creole.
speak the language
be able to speak the language of the country you are in
▪ It’s difficult living in a country where you don’t speak the language.
▷ lingo /ˈlɪŋgəʊ/ [singular noun] informal
a foreign language :
speak/know the lingo
▪ Travelling in Spain is much easier if you can speak the lingo.
learn/pick up the lingo
▪ He picked up the local lingo straight away.
▷ dialect /ˈdaɪəlekt/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a form of a language which is spoken by the people who live in one area of a country, and which has different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other forms of that language :
▪ In this region, the dialect sounds a lot like German.
▪ At home, they speak in dialect.
Yorkshire/German/Cantonese etc dialect
▪ In some Yorkshire dialects, people say ‘spice’ instead of ‘sweets’ or ‘candy’.
dialect word
▪ ‘Nowt’ is a northern dialect word meaning ‘nothing’.
dialect of
▪ He spoke a dialect of French that I found hard to understand.
▷ slang /slæŋ/ [uncountable noun]
very informal words used in a particular country or place :
▪ I was totally confused by the slang that the other kids were using.
slang for
▪ ‘Bladdered’ is slang for ‘drunk’.
slang word/term/expression
▪ ‘Shepherd’ was a slang term for a spy.
US/British/Southern etc slang
▪ ‘Baloney’ is US slang for nonsense.
▷ colloquial /kəˈləʊkwiəl/ [adjective]
language that is colloquial is only used in conversation, not in formal situations :
▪ It’s a useful little phrase book, full of colloquial expressions.
▪ The best way of improving your colloquial English is by listening to native speakers.
▪ You shouldn’t use phrases like ‘sort of’ in essays -- they’re too colloquial.
2. the use of words to communicate
▷ language /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [uncountable noun]
the use of words, grammar etc to communicate with other people :
▪ Every child develops the natural ability to use language.
▪ There are ways of communicating without language.
▷ linguistic /lɪŋˈgwɪstɪk/ [adjective usually before noun]
connected with people’s ability to use language :
linguistic ability/skills/development etc
▪ Hearing difficulties can slow down a child’s linguistic development.
▪ It is difficult to obtain accurate information on which to base an assessment of a child’s linguistic abilities.
3. the first language that you learn as a child
▷ somebody’s first language / somebodyˈs ˌfɜːʳst ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [countable noun]
the first language you learn as a child - use this when you are comparing someone’s first language with other languages that they learn later :
▪ My first language is Dutch.
▪ My daughter has several classmates whose first language is Bengali.
▷ somebody’s mother tongue / somebodyˈs ˈmʌðəʳ ˌtʌŋ/ [countable noun]
the first language you learn as a child - use this especially to talk about someone who now lives in a country where a different language is spoken :
▪ We run classes for students whose mother tongue is not English.
▷ native speaker /ˌneɪtɪv ˈspiːkəʳ/ [countable noun]
a native speaker of a language is someone who learned that language first as a child :
▪ The book is aimed at learners of English rather than native speakers.
native speaker of
▪ There has been an assumption in the past that anyone who is a native speaker of English is equipped to teach English.
4. when someone can speak more than one language
▷ bilingual /baɪˈlɪŋgwəl/ [adjective]
someone who is bilingual can speak two languages perfectly :
▪ I’m bilingual - my mother was French.
▪ Many of the pupils are bilingual in Welsh and English.
▷ somebody’s second language / somebodyˈs ˌsekənd ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [countable noun]
your second language is a language that you speak well and often use, but not the first language that you learned as a child :
▪ Halima was born in Kenya. Her first language is Swahili, and her second language is English.
5. the language used by a particular group of people
▷ language /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [uncountable noun]
the kind of words used by people in a particular job or activity :
legal/medical/business etc language
▪ Books about physics are usually written in highly technical language.
▪ People often find the medical language used by doctors confusing.
the language of something
▪ a fascinating article about the language of baseball
▷ terminology /ˌtɜːʳmɪˈnɒlədʒi, ˌtɜːʳməˈnɒlədʒiǁ-ˈnɑː-/ [uncountable noun]
the special words that people working in science, medicine, the law etc use to describe things :
▪ It is important that lawyers use the correct terminology when they prepare contracts.
scientific/linguistic/computer etc terminology
▪ It was an interesting programme, which gave the facts without using too much scientific terminology.
▷ jargon /ˈdʒɑːʳgənǁ-gən, -gɑːn/ [uncountable noun]
words used by people who do a particular job or who are interested in a particular subject, which are difficult for ordinary people to understand :
▪ When you first learn about computers, there is a whole lot of jargon to understand.
management/legal/medical/computer jargon
▪ I hate all this management jargon about ‘upskilling’ and ‘downsizing’.
▷ slang /slæŋ/ [uncountable noun]
informal words that are used by specific groups of people, for example soldiers or prisoners :
army/soldiers’/prison etc slang
▪ ‘Doolally’, meaning ‘crazy’, is 19th century soldiers’ slang, and comes from the name of an Indian town.
▷ in layman’s terms /ɪn ˈleɪmənz tɜːʳmz/ [adverb]
not using special, technical words that are hard to understand :
▪ I want a book that will explain to me in layman’s terms how my computer works.
▷ -speak /-spiːk/ []
management/boardroom/PR etc -speak
a type of language and the words used by managers etc - use this especially to talk about a way of speaking that you think is silly or unnecessarily different from normal language :
▪ ‘What on earth does he mean, ‘window’?’ ‘Oh, that’s management-speak for ‘opportunity’.’
▪ Her email was so full of corporate-speak, you hardly realized that what she was saying was that we were all fired.