Language and Linguistics

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English Further reading

MOTHER TONGUE

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | | Copyright

MOTHER TONGUE. A general term for the language of the childhood home, learned ‘at one's mother's knee’, often used synonymously with NATIVE LANGUAGE. Although the implication is usually clear, there is no necessary connection between a child's use of language and the language of its mother: some children learn the language of a nurse or ayah first; a mother may talk to her child in a language not originally her own; the mother may be dead. The term is often used to mean a national language, such as French whether or not it is the first or preferred language of all members of the nation, as with Basques and Bretons in France. Compare FIRST LANGUAGE/SECOND LANGUAGE.

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TOM McARTHUR. "MOTHER TONGUE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "MOTHER TONGUE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-MOTHERTONGUE.html

TOM McARTHUR. "MOTHER TONGUE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-MOTHERTONGUE.html

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mother tongue

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

moth·er tongue • n. the language that a person has grown up speaking from early childhood.

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"mother tongue." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"mother tongue." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mothertongue.html

"mother tongue." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mothertongue.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

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	THE GENIUS OF LANGUAGE: Fifteen Writers Reflect on Their Mother Tongues Magazine article from: USA TODAY; 5/1/2005