Definitions Relating to Bilingualism

bilingual

There are many definitions of what it means to be bilingual. On these pages, we've used the definition that anyone who uses two or more languages in her everyday life is a bilingual. One does not have to have grown up with two languages or to speak them with equal fluency.

bilingual family

Any family in which most of the members are bilingual. They could be so because they are part of a linguistic minority, because the parents have different language backgrounds, because the family is living in a different country from that of the parents' birth, or because the parents wish to teach their children a language that is not native to them.

consecutive bilingualism

Learning one language after another. Those of us who became bilingual as adults are consecutive bilinguals, and so are children who learn a new language after they've already begun to speak.

linguist

Someone who studies human language. A linguist doesn't necessarily know many languages. Someone who knows many languages could be called a multilingual or a polyglot. This is one of Cindy's pet peeves.

majority language

The language of the community, the language spoken by most of a family's neighbors, by the school, and at work.

minority language

The language a family speaks that is not the majority or community language. This can also refer to the language of a linguistic minority within a country; for instance, Basque is a minority language in Spain and France.

Minority Language at Home (ml@h)

A system in which all family members speak the minority (non-community) language in the home or among themselves, and the community language outside the home or with non-family members.

One Parent, One Language (OPOL)

A system in which each parent speaks one language to the children. Usually the parents have different native languages and each speak their own mother tongue to the children.

polyglot

Someone who speaks many languages.

receptive bilingualism

Understanding two or more languages but not speaking one (or more) of them. This is a fairly common situation; bilingual parents sometimes find that their children only want to speak the majority language, even at home, for longer or shorter periods of time.

simultaneous bilingualism

Learning two or more languages as a "first language". A simultaneous bilingual starts learning as a baby and goes from not speaking at all to speaking two languages at once.

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Created 5 March 2006 * Last Updated 5 March 2006