What term is applied to someone who can speak a number of languages?

A multilingual person is someone who can communicate in more than one language, either actively (through speaking, writing, or signing) or passively (through listening, reading, or perceiving). More specifically, the terms 'bilingual' and 'trilingual' are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A multilingual person is generally referred to as a 'polyglot', which may also be used to refer to people who learn multiple languages as a hobby.

Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language usually dominates over the other.

In linguistics, first language acquisition is closely related to the concept of a "native speaker". According to a view widely held by linguists, a native speaker of a given language has in some respects a level of skill which a second (or subsequent) language learner cannot easily accomplish. Consequently, descriptive empirical studies of languages are usually carried out using only native speakers.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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11 Comments

Ian Swindale

My daughter's eldest son's first language is English. They lived in Lanzarote for 6 years and he became totally fluent in that language. My daughter with her husband and their 2 sons have now moved to Croatia (the home country of my daughter's husband) and my eldest of the 2 grandsons is now also fluent in Croat recognised as being one of the most difficult European languages to learn. He's not yet 10!!

Stephen Farrelly

I speak English, Astrayun, a bit ok KIWI and BULL****

Christopher Neal Wigley

My Mother was one who was able to speak several languages. She was born in Belgium and spoke Flemish, French, German, English and Spanish. In her later years she became an Elementary School teacher and her class was taught entirely in both English and Spanish.

werma

The problem with languages is that you forget a lot if you don't use it.

Bob Gorby

If exposed prior to puberty, our brains are wired to “simply absorb” a natural (human, vs formal [e.g., computer or Turing machine]) language. After puberty, this ability “ossifies” away. All tries to learn a new language after this often result in a “Charro-like” (thick) accent and inevitable grammatical gaffes.

Cleo Teeters

Jon Glencross, you need to ease up on the strong comments. It is only a quiz. In these testing times, we should be kind. Stay safe.

Cheryl Perkins

I always admire people who speak more than one language. I am trying to learn Maori but I am finding it quite difficult.

Chandran David

Study of languages is an interesting one and one can enrich his / her knowledge. I’m well versed in my mother tongue Tamil . Hence learning other Dravidian languages namely Telugu , Kannada , Malayalam became very very easy. On learning Sanskrit I studied similarities in Tamil and Sanskrit. Also found common words in all these languages.