Thesaurus results for MOTHER TONGUE

mother tongue

noun

Definition of mother tongue

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of mother tongue The notion of a mother tongue assumes that language functions as a common thread in families, tying parent to child. — Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026 From the start of his career, Fela aimed to reach a larger and Pan-African audience by singing almost exclusively in Nigerian Pidgin English (rather than his mother tongue, Yoruba, which doesn't translate throughout most of the continent). — Ian Brennan, NPR, 15 Apr. 2026 Playing off a six-language broadcast which means it can be viewed by 75% of Europeans in their mother tongue, Arte is still growing. — John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026 The group last delivered a full-length in its mother tongue, Be, in November 2020. — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 20 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mother tongue

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue

Noun

Axios Business Editor Dan Primack said Anthropic's S-1 filing marked a shift in the company's language towards using public markets to finance compute spending.

— Ashley Capoot,Jordan Novet,Annie Palmer,Lora Kolodny,Kai Nicol-Schwarz,Caleigh Keating, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
The vulnerability, called P2PShell, impacts a coding language that powers 70% of the world’s websites, enabling hackers to remotely execute code or gain access to information stored on servers.

— Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of language

Noun

Orange graces the sneaker almost entirely uninterrupted through the upper to the translucent midsole, but blue is used for the tongue’s Kobe Sheath logo and the heel Swoosh.

— Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
The living room features wide-plank wood floors, tongue-and-groove wood ceilings, a stone fireplace, and a glass wall; the kitchen includes an oversized quartzite island; and a guest suite has a Japanese soaking tub.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of tongue

Noun

Joseph Hill, the director of the Center for Black Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, asserted that BASL is generally treated as more of a dialect than a language.

— New York Times, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
The reality, of course, is that the Southern accent is not some incorrect version of a national standard but instead a historically separate and unique dialect – or, more accurately, set of dialects.

— Valerie M. Fridland, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of dialect

Noun

Its palette is broad, moving from comic to straight rap, from Cab Calloway swing to Beyoncé-style ballads, each idiom chosen for its dramatic purpose.

— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Over the decades, though, Reich’s idiom has become part of the mainstream.

— Joshua Barone, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2026