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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mother tongue
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
Since 1994, Ethiopia’s policy has been that students should receive instruction in their mother tongue (or the dominant mother tongue of their area) in grades one through eight and shift to English instruction in ninth grade.
—Laura Clawson, JSTOR Daily, 20 June 2025
The presenters spoke their mother tongue (Farsi and Hindi), which was detected and translated in real-time to English.
—Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
Growing up in upstate New York, Lin rejected her Chinese heritage and resisted learning her mother tongue.
—Aditi Sriram, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Ragip Soylu, Time, 18 July 2025
Since 1994, Ethiopia’s policy has been that students should receive instruction in their mother tongue (or the dominant mother tongue of their area) in grades one through eight and shift to English instruction in ninth grade.
—Laura Clawson, JSTOR Daily, 20 June 2025
The presenters spoke their mother tongue (Farsi and Hindi), which was detected and translated in real-time to English.
—Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
Growing up in upstate New York, Lin rejected her Chinese heritage and resisted learning her mother tongue.
—Aditi Sriram, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue
Noun
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Green’s order gave Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins seven days to rewrite the language of the ballot measure and the language that will be at polling places.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
24 Sep. 2025
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The book collects his writing, social media posts, and blogging in one English-language volume.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This combo with a strong development on each RTW category, shoes and bags, widened the vocabulary for the brand, staying tuned to their young audience.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
29 Sep. 2025
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No visual or symbolic vocabulary ever develops.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Anyway, Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, to my mind, is the most astonishing of lexicons ever produced in any tongue.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
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My throat was scorched, my tongue was swollen — and the acid would not stop coming.—
Jack Korngold,
Rolling Stone,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For Minha, the biggest challenge was mastering the North Korean dialect.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
25 Sep. 2025
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Day-one fans of Taylor Swift know that the pop superstar has come a long way since launching her music career as a country singer — and that evolution is apparent in her dialect, according to speech scientists.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Meanwhile, analytical software has revolutionized linguistic inquiry, enabling greater understanding of the ways language works—when, how, and why words break out; the specific contexts for expressions and idioms.—
Stefan Fatsis,
The Atlantic,
13 Sep. 2025
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Nonnas There's a saying that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn) of 2025's Nonnas is the perfect depiction of the idiom.—
Jacqueline Weiss,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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