Language acquisition

language a person was raised speaking from birth

thumb|right|The frontage of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, with text written in eleven of South Africa's twelve official languages thumb|A multilingual sign outside the mayor's office in Novi Sad, Serbia, written in the four official languages of the city: Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak, and Pannonian Rusyn thumb|A stenciled danger sign in Singapore written in English, Chinese, Tamil, and Malay (the four official languages of Singapore) thumb|The logo and name of the Federal administration of Switzerland|Swiss federal administration in the four national languages of Switzerland (German,

language spoken in addition to one's first language

international observance every September 26

process in which a first language is being acquired

thumb|Sarah Geronimo and an interviewer code-switch between English and Filipino. Such code-switching is widespread in the Philippines. start=43|end=52|thumb|Maya Diab code-switches between English and [[Lebanese Arabic mid-sentence.]]

theory in linguistics, usually credited to Noam Chomsky, proposing that the ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain

human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age

process in which a second or additional language is acquired after the first language has been learned

abused child studied by linguists after spending most of early life locked in a room and tied to a chair

delay of speech

process starting early in human life

An interlanguage is an idiolect developed by a learner of a second language (L2) which preserves some features of their first language (L1) and can overgeneralize some L2 writing and speaking rules. These two characteristics give an interlanguage its unique linguistic organization. It is idiosyncratically based on the learner's experiences with L2. An interlanguage can fossilize, or cease developing, in any of its developmental stages. Several factors can shape interlanguage rules, including L1 transfer, previous learning strategies, strategies of L2 acquisition, L2 communication strategies, a

text placed alongside its translation or translations

signed language systems used with hearing infants/toddlers

thumb|A babbling infant, age 2 months, making cooing sounds

biolinguistics hypothesis that claims a person can only achieve native-like fluency in a language before a certain age

minor non-prestigious language, most often used in a family and different from the main language of the environment common in the given territory; as a rule, speakers of such languages are bilingual, and this language is their native language.

broad linguistic internalized knowledge of a language and its usage

linguistic argument

Cryptophasia is the phenomenon of a language developed by twins (identical or fraternal) that only the two children can understand. The word has its roots from the Greek crypto-, meaning secret, and -phasia, meaning speech. Most linguists associate cryptophasia with idioglossia, which is any language used by only one, or very few, people. Cryptophasia differs from idioglossia on including mirrored actions like twin-walk and identical mannerisms.

when two people focus on something at once

hypothetical module proposed by Noam Chomsky to explain children's ability to acquire language

measurement of linguistic ability

writing style in which the letters are individualized, without any connection between them

in linguistics, the sequences of sounds corresponding to the words for "mother" and "father"

language disorder in which a child fails to develop language normally

hypotheses of second-language acquisition

research area in semantic similarities between linguistic items

neurolinguistics area of study

Code-mixing is the mixing of two or more languages or language varieties in speech.

someone who can fully understand a language but not productively speak it

topic in phonetics

process of learning words

Metalinguistics is the branch of linguistics that studies language and its relationship to other cultural behaviors. It is the study of how different parts of speech and communication interact with each other and reflect the way people live and communicate together. Jacob L. Mey in his book, Trends in Linguistics, describes Mikhail Bakhtin's interpretation of metalinguistics as "encompassing the life history of a speech community, with an orientation toward a study of large events in the speech life of people and embody changes in various cultures and ages."

bilingualism by learning two languages from birth

reading large amount of text in order to encounter and learn new vocabulary and language patern.

expression coined by Hilary Putnam to refer to a linguistic theory of language acquisition which holds that at least some knowledge about language exists in humans at birth.

study of the development of linguistic ability in an individual, particularly the acquisition of language in childhood

ability to objectify language as a process as well as an object

modifying one's foreign accent towards that of a native speaker

linguistic theory of creole language innovations