LINGUAL
LINGUAL.
1. Relating to the TONGUE, as with a lingual protrusion lisp, a lisp caused by the tongue coming forward too far.
2. In PHONETICS, formed by (especially the tip of) the tongue, as with the consonants /d, t, n/; a lingual sound.
3. Relating to LANGUAGES: lingual skills. The simple adjective is rare in this sense, but the combining form -lingual is common, as in bi-, tri-, and quadrilingual able to use two, three, and four languages respectively. There are two terms for ‘able to use (only) one language’: the commoner monolingual (a hybrid form using GREEK-derived mono- sole) and the etymologically more consistent unilingual (using LATIN-derived un- one). The latter is common in CanE, under the influence of FRENCH unilingue. Compare -GLOT. See BILINGUALISM, MULTILINGUALISM.
1. Relating to the TONGUE, as with a lingual protrusion lisp, a lisp caused by the tongue coming forward too far.
2. In PHONETICS, formed by (especially the tip of) the tongue, as with the consonants /d, t, n/; a lingual sound.
3. Relating to LANGUAGES: lingual skills. The simple adjective is rare in this sense, but the combining form -lingual is common, as in bi-, tri-, and quadrilingual able to use two, three, and four languages respectively. There are two terms for ‘able to use (only) one language’: the commoner monolingual (a hybrid form using GREEK-derived mono- sole) and the etymologically more consistent unilingual (using LATIN-derived un- one). The latter is common in CanE, under the influence of FRENCH unilingue. Compare -GLOT. See BILINGUALISM, MULTILINGUALISM.
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LINGUAL