First language

A first language (also mother language, mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) often means the language that a person learns first.^[1] It helps one understand words and concepts in the style of that language.^[2]

The monument for the Mother (Azerbaijani) language in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan

Sometimes, but not often, first language means the language that a person speaks best (the second language is then spoken less well than the first language, etc.). In that sense, a person could have more than one first or second language.

The first languages of the national majority usually are to be recognized as national languages of the nation.

References

1. Bloomfield, Leonard (1994). Language. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1196-6.
2. Davies, Alan (2003). The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 978-1-85359-622-3.

Related pages

• Soweto Uprising
• Second language