Types of language and general words for language

a dialect (=way of speaking a language) that is considered better than all others

a language that people still speak and use in their ordinary lives

a dialect (=way of speaking a language) that is considered lower in status than other dialects

a language that is a mixture of a European language and one or more other languages, spoken as the first language of a people

dialect (noun)

a way of speaking a language that is used only in a particular area or by a particular group

diglossia (noun)

a situation in which a language exists in two forms, one formal or literary and the other informal, and you use the form that is suitable for a particular situation

first language (noun)

the first language that you learn to speak

first language (noun)

the main language that people speak in a region or country

heritage language (noun)

in English-speaking countries, a language other than English that is the main language someone learns as a child

home language (noun)

mainly American someone’s native language

interlanguage (noun)

a mixture of two languages, especially one used by someone learning a new language, that contains features of the person’s first language mixed with those of the language they are learning

interlingual (adjective)

involving two languages

interlingual (adjective)

relating to an interlanguage

language (noun)

the method of human communication using spoken or written words

langue (noun)

a language considered as a system of communication that belongs to the people who speak it

lingo (noun)

informal a language, especially one other than your own

lingua franca (noun)

a language that people use to communicate when they have different first languages

linguistic imperialism (noun)

showing disapproval the belief or assumption that everyone should speak English because it is the main means of international communication

litotes (noun)

the use of a negative statement to say something positive, for example by describing something as ‘not unreasonable’

metalanguage (noun)

a set of words used for describing and discussing language

metonymy (noun)

the use of a word or phrase, when you refer to something using the name of something else that it is closely related to. For example, journalists often use the expression ‘The White House’ to mean the President of the US

mother tongue (noun)

the main language that you learn as a child

natural language (noun)

a language that has developed in a natural way, rather than being created for a specific purpose

parole (noun)

linguistics language considered as the way that individual people use it

patois (noun)

a type of spoken language used by people in a particular area, that is different from the main language in a country

pidgin (noun)

a language made up of two or more languages, used as a way of communicating by people whose first languages are different from each other

plain English/language/wording ()

language that is easy to understand because it does not use difficult or technical words

prose (noun)

written language in its ordinary form, as opposed to poetry

register (noun)

linguistics the type of language that you use in a particular situation or when communicating with a particular group of people

rhyming slang (noun)

British a way of talking in which you replace the normal word for something with a word or phrase that rhymes with it. An example is ‘dog and bone’ instead of ‘phone’. Rhyming slang is used especially by Cockneys (=people from East London).

second language (noun)

a language that you can speak but which is not your main language

signing (noun)

the use of sign language to communicate, instead of speaking or writing

sign language (noun)

a way of communicating with people who cannot hear, using hand signals instead of words

sociolect (noun)

a type of language spoken by people in a particular social class or group

speech (noun)

spoken language, not written language

stress-timed (adjective)

in a stress-timed language, there is a regular pattern of stressed syllables

sublanguage (noun)

a variety of language with its own terms and expressions that is used by a particular group or to talk about a particular subject, for example, the language used by doctors to talk to each other about medicine, or the language of a technical instruction manual

syllable-timed (adjective)

in a syllable-timed language, each syllable has a regular rhythm and there are no stresses

tone language (noun)

a language such as Chinese in which the meaning of some words changes when you say them in a different tone

tongue (noun)

mainly literary a language

vernacular (noun)

the language spoken by a particular group or in a particular area, when it is different from the formal written language

Synonyms and antonyms of Types of language and general words for language in British Thesaurus