mother tongue

Noun

Meaning

one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next

Source: WordNet

Alternative names

mother-tongue

Synonyms

first language maternal language creole patter language cant speech talk dialogue tongue dialect slang vernacular idiom jargon

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Antonyms

standard sense formal quiet silence listening

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Hypernyms

tongue natural language

Examples

An art of expression should begin with childhood, and the lucid use of one's mother tongue should be typical of that art. The sense of reality should be strengthened from the beginning, yet by no means at the cost of those lofty illusions we call patriotism, veneration, love. Louis Sullivan

The mother tongue is propaganda. Marshall McLuhan

I should as soon think of swimming across Charles River when I wish to go to Boston, as of reading all my books in originals when I have them rendered for me in my mother tongue. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think English is a fantastic, rich and musical language, but of course your mother tongue is the most important for an actor. Max von Sydow

I perceived how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue. William Tyndale

He who does not love his mother tongue is worse than a rotten fish. Filipino Proverb

Close letter words and terms

Mother Teresa Mother Theresa Mother Thumb and her four daughters mother tongue speaker mother tongues mother wit