Download the app
educalingo
native language
" A Swedish physicist can not discuss his work with fifty people unless he goes abroad. A Swedish economist can get opinions and instructions in his native language from thousands upon thousands of his fellow citizens."
George Stigler

Meaning of "native language" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

PRONUNCIATION OF NATIVE LANGUAGE

ˈneɪtɪv ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF NATIVE LANGUAGE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Native language is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES NATIVE LANGUAGE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

First language

A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity. In some countries, the terms native language or mother tongue refer to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language. Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be bilingual. By contrast, a second language is any language that one speaks other than one's first language.

Definition of native language in the English dictionary

The definition of native language in the dictionary is the language of the country that someone is born in or native to.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH NATIVE LANGUAGE

advantage · age · average · bridge · college · coverage · damage · heritage · image · knowledge · language · messuage · metalanguage · nonlanguage · paralanguage · protolanguage · sandwich · slanguage · squidge · sublanguage

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE NATIVE LANGUAGE

native · Native American · native bear · native bush · native cat · native companion · native country · native dog · native frangipani · native oak · native peach · native speaker · Native States · native tongue · native-born · natively · nativeness · nativism · nativist · nativistic

WORDS THAT END LIKE NATIVE LANGUAGE

American sign language · artificial language · assembly language · body language · command language · community language · English as a Foreign Language · English as a Second Language · first language · formal language · high-level language · modern language · natural language · plain language · programming language · second language · sign language · source language · speak the same language · target language · Unified Modeling Language

Synonyms and antonyms of native language in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «native language» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF NATIVE LANGUAGE

Find out the translation of native language to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of native language from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «native language» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

母语
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

lengua materna
570 millions of speakers
en

English

native language
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

देशी भाषा
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

اللغة الأم
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

родной язык
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

língua materna
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

মাতৃভাষা
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

langue maternelle
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Bahasa asal
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

Muttersprache
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

ネイティブ言語
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

모국어
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Basa asli
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

ngôn ngữ mẹ đẻ
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

தாய் மொழி
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

मूळ भाषा
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

anadil
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

madrelingua
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

język ojczysty
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

рідну мову
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

limba maternă
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

μητρική γλώσσα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

moedertaal
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

modersmål
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

morsmålet
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of native language

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «NATIVE LANGUAGE»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of native language
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «native language».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about native language

EXAMPLES

2 QUOTES WITH «NATIVE LANGUAGE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word native language.
1
George Stigler
A Swedish physicist can not discuss his work with fifty people unless he goes abroad. A Swedish economist can get opinions and instructions in his native language from thousands upon thousands of his fellow citizens.
2
Benjamin Whorf
We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native language.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «NATIVE LANGUAGE»

Discover the use of native language in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to native language and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Non-Native Language Teachers: Perceptions, Challenges and ...
This volume is particularly rich in providing different approaches to the study of non-native teachers: NNS teachers as seen by students, teachers, graduate supervisors, and by themselves.
Enric Llurda, 2006
2
Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide : Interpreting ...
There isn't a dog trainer or behaviorist who won't learn something new in this incredible volume. And there isn't a dog owner who won't welcome the new insights they will gain into the behavior of the family dog.
Brenda Aloff, 2005
3
Mesoamerican Voices: Native Language Writings from Colonial ...
A 2006 collection of indigenous-language writings from central Mexico and Guatemala, written during the colonial period.
Matthew Restall, Lisa Sousa, Kevin Terraciano, 2005
4
Native Listening: Language Experience and the Recognition of ...
In this book, Anne Cutler argues that listening to speech is a process of native listening because so much of it is exquisitely tailored to the requirements of the native language.
Anne Cutler, 2012
5
The Acquisition of Egyptian Arabic as a Native Language
The Arabic in this book is presented in transcription, making the information accessible to all linguists interested in language acquisition.
Margaret K. Omar, Margaret Kleffner Nydell, 2007
6
A Psycholinguistic Study of Native Language Constraints on ...
Past research on bilingual production has been performed almost exclusively with bilinguals whose two languages share the same Roman alphabets.
Noriko Hoshino, 2006
7
Native American Language Ideologies: Beliefs, Practices, and ...
Annotation. This book samples the language ideologies of a wide range of Native American communities to show their role in sociocultural transformation.
Paul V. Kroskrity, Margaret C. Field, 2009
8
Native Tongue
A brilliant cult classic of literary science fiction--back in print.
Suzette Haden Elgin, 2013
9
Instructional Strategies for Native American English ...
Navajo self-identify is partially defined through the native language.
Deborah Holgate, 2009
10
Preschool Teachers' Attitudes Toward Children's Native ...
practices in their classroom, such as providing opportunities for the children to communicate in their native language and to share their native language and culture with their peers in the classroom, talking to the children on the values in ...
Bo Kay Polly Lung, 2008

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «NATIVE LANGUAGE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term native language is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Quapaw Tribe working to pass on native language
Ardina Moore on Wednesday leads a class on the Quapaw language during the Quapaw Tribal Youth Language and Cultural Preservation ... «Joplin Globe, Jul 15»
2
A-levels, BTecs or an IB: which is right for you?
... at least one science, one humanities subject, English language and literature (or the student's own native language) and a foreign language. «The Guardian, Jul 15»
3
5 Best Tips for Vegans Traveling to Europe: Indulge Your Senses
Of course, many Europeans do speak English, but most locals appreciate it when tourists try and speak their native language. Also, using some ... «Huffington Post, Jul 15»
4
'Happy, happy' … reunion near
Awale's English is limited, although better than when they started the process, and she can't read in her native language of Somali, let alone in ... «Waterloo Record, Jul 15»
5
Here's What We Learned From MTV's 'White People' Documentary
His parents came to America over 40 years ago to a place where they weren't welcome and didn't speak the native language. The 22-year-old ... «atlantadailyworld, Jul 15»
6
Tollywood challenges Bollywood's reign
Baahubali (“Strong Man” in Hindi) was shot in Telugu, the native language of Telangana. Its release was accompanied by a marketing budget ... «Independent Online, Jul 15»
7
Police: Man groped girls in theme park's wave pool
The suspect's family said his native language is Bengali, and police contacted an interpreter to read him his rights. After three attempts, the man ... «Hamilton Journal News, Jul 15»
8
How to identify annoying tourist-trap restaurants
Local eateries seldom have such menus and names of dishes are usually in their native language. This is to help preserve the authenticity of ... «AsiaOne, Jul 15»
9
Mistrial declared in case of Lowell driving instructor
A second evaluation by the court clinician on Wednesday indicated Perregil, whose native language is Portuguese, was having trouble ... «Lowell Sun, Jul 15»
10
How to Build an International SEO and Content Team from the …
You might not be able to say “another beer, please” in the native language—but hopefully you do because you”ll need one. Joking aside, while ... «The Content Standard by Skyword, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Native language [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/native-language>. Jun 2026 ».
Download the educalingo app
EN