sesquilingual

adj

Etymology

From sesqui- + lingual.

  1. learned borrowing from linguālis
  2. formed as sesquilingual — “sesqui- + lingual

Definitions

  1. Pertaining to one language, plus a second in a limited capacity, degree, or content.

    • Typically, it is believed that this sesquilingual discourse is due to the absence of suitable terms in the inferior language.
    • Ireland's sesquilingual situation is thus the inverse of the 'normal' European situation, where English is the prestige language and the native language of lower prestige.
  2. Able to communicate fluently in one language, but only to a degree in another.

    • Being already sesquilingual, the Hong Kong Chinese are therefore quite receptive to the teaching of another language.
    • 'Sesquilingual' is not a mythical animal like the native speaker or foreign learner, but a newfangled term for someone who is good in one language, say English, and only half as...

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sesquilingual. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA