母語

See also: 母语

Chinese

		female; mother	speech; language; dialect speech; language; dialect; tell to
trad. (母語)		母	語
simp. (母语)		母	语

Etymology

Calque of English mother tongue.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mǔyǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄨˇ ㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁵ jyu⁵
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): mû-ngî

  (Hailu, HRS): mu^ˋ ngi^ˋ

• Eastern Min (BUC): mū-ngṳ̄
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): bieo³ gy³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bú-gí / bú-gú / bó-gí / bó-gú / bió-gír
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶mu-gniu

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mǔyǔ [Phonetic: múyǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄨˇ ㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mǔyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: mu³-yü³
    • Yale: mǔ-yǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: muuyeu
    • Palladius: муюй (mujuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ y²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: mou⁵ jyu⁵
    • Yale: móuh yúh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁵ jy⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: mou⁵ yu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯¹³ jyː¹³/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 母乳 母語 / 母语

• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mû-ngî
    • Hakka Romanization System: mu^ˊ ngi^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mu¹ ngi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /mu²⁴⁻¹¹ ŋi²⁴/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: mu^ˋ ngi^ˋ
    • Sinological IPA: /mu⁵³ ŋi⁵³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: mū-ngṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mu³³⁻³⁵ ŋy³³/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: bieo³ gy³ [Phonetic: bieo⁵ gy³]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pieu⁴⁵³⁻²¹ ky⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: bieo³ gy³ [Phonetic: bieo⁵ gy³]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pieu³³²⁻²¹ ky³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bú-gí
    • Tâi-lô: bú-gí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bw'gie
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ɡi⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bú-gú
    • Tâi-lô: bú-gú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bw'guo
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /bu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bó-gí
    • Tâi-lô: bó-gí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: boy'gie
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ɡi⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡi⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bó-gú
    • Tâi-lô: bó-gú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: boy'guo
    • IPA (Taipei): /bo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bió-gír
    • Tâi-lô: bió-gír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bio⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ ɡɯ⁵⁵⁴/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶mu-gniu
    • MiniDict: mu^去 nyu
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³mu-nyy
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /mu²² n̠ʲy⁴⁴/

Noun

母語

1. mother tongue; native language; first language

   母語干擾／母语干扰  ―  mǔyǔ gānrǎo  ―  first-language interference

   以英語為母語的人 [MSC, trad.]
   以英语为母语的人 [MSC, simp.]

   yǐ yīngyǔ wéi mǔyǔ de rén [Pinyin]

   native English speaker

   母語不代表說得就一定好。 [MSC, trad.]
   母语不代表说得就一定好。 [MSC, simp.]

   Mǔyǔ bù dàibiǎo shuō de jiù yīdìng hǎo. [Pinyin]

   Not all native speakers speak their first language well.

   這個學生的母語是臺語。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
   这个学生的母语是台语。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

   Chit ê ha̍k-seng ê bú-gú sī Tâi-gú. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   This student is a native speaker of Taiwanese Hokkien.

2. ancestral language
   • 2003, 林濤, 中亞東干語研究, page 20:

     據說在1990年成立全蘇東干族協會時，吉爾吉斯斯坦南方的奧什回回因爲不會講陝甘寧方言而嚎啕大哭，痛惜自己丟失了母語。 [MSC, trad.]
     据说在1990年成立全苏东干族协会时，吉尔吉斯斯坦南方的奥什回回因为不会讲陕甘宁方言而嚎啕大哭，痛惜自己丢失了母语。 [MSC, simp.]

     Jùshuō zài 1990 nián chénglì quánsū dōnggānzú xiéhuì shí, jí'ěrjísīsītǎn nánfāng de àoshén huíhuí yīnwèi bùhuì jiǎng shǎngānníng fāngyán ér háotáodàkū, tòngxī zìjǐ diūshī le mǔyǔ. [Pinyin]

     It is said that during the 1990 formation of the All-Soviet Dungan Association, Hui of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan, unable to speak their Shaan-Gan-Ning dialect, cried most terribly, lamenting the loss of their native language.

3. official mandated language of one's ethnic group

Antonyms

• 外語／外语 (wàiyǔ)

Derived terms

• 母語人士 / 母语人士 (mǔyǔ rénshì)
• 非母語人士 / 非母语人士 (fēi-mǔyǔ rénshì)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (母語):

• → Japanese: 母語(ぼご) (bogo)
• → Korean: 모어(母語) (mo'eo)

Further reading

• “Entry #53474”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
母	語
ぼ Grade: 2	ご Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぼご [bóꜜgò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [bo̞ɡo̞]

Etymology 1

Calque of English mother tongue.

Noun

母(ぼ)語(ご) • (bogo) 

1. a first language, a mother tongue, a native tongue, a native language

   英(えい)語(ご)を母(ぼ)語(ご)として話(はな)す人(ひと)。

   Eigo o bogo to shite hanasu hito.

   A native speaker of English.

   • 2009, Okada, Hideo [岡田英夫], 日(に)本(ほん)語(ご)教(きょう)育(いく)能(のう)力(りょく)検(けん)定(てい)試(し)験(けん)に合(ごう)格(かく)するための基(き)礎(そ)知(ち)識(しき) [Fundamentals for Passing the JLPT]‎^[1], revised edition, page 24:

     母(ぼ)語(ご)と教(きょう)科(か)学(がく)習(しゅう)のいずれも犠(ぎ)牲(せい)にしない第(だい)二(に)言(げん)語(ご)獲(かく)得(とく)の方(ほう)式(しき)として世(せ)界(かい)各(かく)地(ち)に広(ひろ)まり、日(に)本(ほん)でも一(いち)部(ぶ)で、英(えい)語(ご)イマージョン教(きょう)育(いく)が取(と)り入(い)れられています。

     Bogo to kyōka gakushū no izure mo gisei ni shinai daini gengo kakutoku no hōshiki to shite sekai kakuchi ni hiromari, Nihon de mo ichibu de, Eigo imājon kyōiku ga toriirerarete imasu.

     Around the world, and in some parts of Japan, English immersion is becoming a widespread method of second language acquisition which sacrifices neither one's mother tongue nor traditional education.

Synonyms

• 母(ぼ)国(こく)語(ご) (bokokugo)

Etymology 2

Calque of French langue mère, or of German Ursprache.

Noun

母(ぼ)語(ご) • (bogo) 

1. (linguistics, uncommon) a proto-language, a mother language (from which later daughter languages evolve)

Usage notes

In this sense, 母語 (bogo) has been largely superseded by the term 祖語 (sogo, literally “ancestral language”).

Korean

Hanja in this term
母	語

Noun

母語 • (mo'eo or McCune-Reischauer: moŏ or Yale: mōe) (hangeul 모어)

1. hanja form^? of 모어 (“native language”)