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
The film’s Park City premiere would mark the beginning of what would be an incredible 12-month trajectory for the £4M ($5M) film about three hedonistic Irish speakers who form hip-hop group Kneecap and become the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue.
—
Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 23 Jan. 2025
Miranda is a rare instance of Björk writing her lyrics entirely in Icelandic, and her melodies sound lovely and in some ways more natural in her mother tongue.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 22 Jan. 2025
But most also want their children to first gain a strong grounding in their mother tongue.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Childhood friends in Belfast meet and start making sick beats with their music teacher, and the trio's use of the country's mother tongue fuels a youth movement against the establishment.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 23 Jan. 2025
Miranda is a rare instance of Björk writing her lyrics entirely in Icelandic, and her melodies sound lovely and in some ways more natural in her mother tongue.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 22 Jan. 2025
But most also want their children to first gain a strong grounding in their mother tongue.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Childhood friends in Belfast meet and start making sick beats with their music teacher, and the trio's use of the country's mother tongue fuels a youth movement against the establishment.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mother tongue
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother tongue
Noun
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Apart from any constitutional questions, there is also the problem that confessional language issued by the secretary of state in his official capacity distorts the message of Easter.—
Chloe Breyer,
New York Daily News,
21 Apr. 2025
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Pope Francis preached the same gospel in different language.—
John Hope Bryant,
Time,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The examples are countless, and, behind the expansion of vocabulary, there is always a foundation that is likely forgotten or plainly unknown by people who adopt it via popular culture.—
Lawrence Burney,
Pitchfork,
18 Apr. 2025
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For those of us old enough to remember Martin (or caught up through reruns), that phrase is etched into our pop culture vocabulary.—
Angel Diaz,
Billboard,
15 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Princess Charlotte sticking her tongue out during a royal engagement and sending Princess Kate into a fit of giggles went newly viral on TikTok.—
Gordon G. Chang,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Apr. 2025
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But more often than not, the sharp tongue and the sly eye roll serve a deeper purpose: survival.—
Shelby Stewart,
Essence,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
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To prepare, Reid worked with a dialect coach and learned the specific physicality associated with Natalia's condition.—
Lee Habeeb,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Apr. 2025
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The interview was conducted in a mixture of English and Low German, a dialect widely spoken within the Christian Mennonite community.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Ultimately, Andrews and his actors find Chekhov by abandoning the paraphernalia of the writer’s universe and groping, in their own idiom, across a perilously empty stage, toward one another.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
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Which is fitting for a composer who, even when developing a homegrown idiom of his own, was criticized for sounding too European.—
Joshua Barone,
New York Times,
17 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mother tongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20tongue. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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