mother tongue

Definition

The language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language.

Etymology

From Middle English mother tonge, modyr tong, equivalent to mother + tongue. Compare Old Norse móðurtunga (“mother tongue”).

Example Sentences

• "His mother tongue is a relatively conservative dialect of Aramaic."
• "One young Tamil teacher had assimilated the sound-system of English so thoroughly to that of his mother-tongue that none of the Chinese and Malay children understood him."
• "Throughout their long history as a minority, Anglo-Indians learned their "father tongue" but were indifferent to their "mother tongue," an indigenous Indian language."

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