as in language
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
although the anthropologist could speak the local language fairly well, she was always glad to find someone who shared her mother tongue
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Recent Examples of mother tongue
Japanese is the only language that leaves Li’s mouth, but her occasional inner monologues are in her mother tongue, the most crucial example expressing her growing conflict with the very act of writing itself.
—
Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2025
Many countries offer visas for language learning, which are student visas specifically designed for people interested in studying the mother tongue of a destination.
—Solo Travel, AFAR Media, 14 Aug. 2025
Advertisement Erdogan lifted the ban on Kurdish language, allowed the Kurds to teach in their mother tongue, and set up radio and television networks to broadcast in Kurdish.
—Ragip Soylu, Time, 18 July 2025
About three-quarters of Singapore’s residents claim Chinese descent and, at the same time, English is its mother tongue and business lingua franca.
—Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2025
Many countries offer visas for language learning, which are student visas specifically designed for people interested in studying the mother tongue of a destination.
—Solo Travel, AFAR Media, 14 Aug. 2025
Advertisement Erdogan lifted the ban on Kurdish language, allowed the Kurds to teach in their mother tongue, and set up radio and television networks to broadcast in Kurdish.
—Ragip Soylu, Time, 18 July 2025
About three-quarters of Singapore’s residents claim Chinese descent and, at the same time, English is its mother tongue and business lingua franca.
—Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue
Noun
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In a similar vein, Timnit Gebru, a computer scientist writing during her time working at Google, warned of the dangers of large language models acting as stochastic parrots, which repeat language patterns without understanding, and in doing so replicate the biases embedded in their training data.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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The dust-up stems back to the Spanish singer’s recent appearance on the New York Times’ Popcast, where she was asked about singing in about 13 different languages one her new album Lux and the challenges of communicating with a global audience.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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That knowledge includes minute details about the princesses’ different personalities, hand gestures, vocabulary and voices.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
11 Nov. 2025
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But, at the same time, in adopting the vocabulary of modernism, Rauschenberg took on a language that his heart didn’t speak.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The apparel brand’s signature red tab is seen near the eyelets of the lateral side while red tongue Jumpman branding adds contrast reminiscent of selvedge seams.—
Riley Jones,
Footwear News,
11 Nov. 2025
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That word, so central to the lexicon of sports and its triumphant narrative arcs, burns on the tongue.—
Tamerra Griffin,
New York Times,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Many rank-and-file enlistees were also recent immigrants, and patriot regiments hummed with a cacophony of different tongues, accents, and dialects throughout the war.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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To embody the Like a Rolling Stone singer, the actor trained extensively, including five years of preparation, to learn to sing as well as play guitar and harmonica, and to work with dialect and movement coaches to make his performance feel authentic.—
Lexi Carson,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Though the idiom of abuse has changed, the critics are as hostile as ever, while their targets react only with curious torpor.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Music unites the interconnecting stories in this saga and expands its passions, with a sumptuous score by composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens that taps into a wide range of American styles, idioms and amalgams, even as the second act turns more dissonant.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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