mother tongue
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mother tongue
- /ˈmʌð.ə ˌtʌŋ/ UK
- /ˈmʌð.ɚ ˌtʌŋ/ US
Where it comes from
From Middle English mother tonge, modyr tong, equivalent to mother + tongue. Compare Old Norse móðurtunga (“mother tongue”).
noun mother tongues
-
The language one first learned; the language one grew up with; one's native language.
His mother tongue is a relatively conservative dialect of Aramaic.
Similar: first language, mother language, native language, native tongue, L1 · Opposite: father tongue
- The language spoken by one’s ancestors.
-
The language spoken by one's mother, when it differs from that spoken by one's father.
Questions about respondents' place of birth, their parents' place of birth, nativity, and language use (called “mother tongue” and “father tongue”) were added to the Census between 1850 and 1960.
Opposite: father tongue
-
Informal speech, as opposed to educated language.
The other is the maturity and experience of that; if that is our mother tongue, this is our father tongue, a reserved and select expression, too significant to be heard by the ear, which we must be born again in order to speak.
Opposite: father tongue
Translations
Every language
noun one's native tongue
| Español | lengua materna, lengua nativa, lengua natal |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 모어 mo'eo, 모국어 mogugeo |
| 日本語 | 母語 bogo, 母国語 bokokugo, 自国語 jikokugo |
| 中文 | 母語 /母语 mǔyǔ, 本族語 /本族语 běnzúyǔ |
| हिन्दी | मातृभाषा mātŕbhāṣā, मादरी ज़बान mādrī zabān |
| Kiswahili | lugha ya mama |
| Português | língua materna, língua nativa |
| Français | langue maternelle |
| Deutsch | Muttersprache, Erstsprache |
| Italiano | madrelingua |
| Ελληνικά | μητρική γλώσσα mitrikí glóssa |
| Română | limbă maternă, limbă nativă, limbă natală |
| Русский | родно́й язы́к rodnój jazýk, родна́я речь rodnája rečʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | tiếng mẹ đẻ, ngôn ngữ mẹ đẻ, ngôn ngữ đầu tiên |
| العربية | لُغَة أُمّ luḡat ʔumm, لُغَة قَوْمِيَّة luḡa qawmiyya, لُغَة أُولَى luḡa ʔūlā |
| עברית | שְׂפַת אֵם s'fat 'ém |
Talk about this word "mother tongue." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mother%20tongue. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mother tongue. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mother%20tongue "mother tongue." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mother%20tongue.Cite this
@misc{mother_tongue_2026,
title = {mother tongue},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mother%20tongue},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
