Where does “first language” come from?
first language (English) comes from English language, from Middle English langage, from Old French language, from Vulgar Latin linguaticum, from Latin lingua, from Latin -ula, from Proto-Indo-European -tlom, from Proto-Indo-European -trom — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
first language (English): The first language one is taught to speak; one's native language
Definitions
- The first language one is taught to speak; one's native language
Ancestry of “first language”, step by step
first language traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English language
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | language | A body of words, and set of methods of combining... |
| 2 | Middle English | langage | language, tongue, speech; dialect, idiom, local... |
| 3 | Old French | language | language (style of communicating) |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | linguaticum | language |
| 5 | Latin | lingua | tongue; a speech; an utterance or expression |
| 6 | Latin | -ula | regō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tlom | Alternative form of *-trom |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
via English First
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | First | Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest |
| 2 | Middle English | first | first |
| 3 | Old English | fyrst | Alternative form of fierst; Alternative form of... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | frestaz | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | pres- | to press |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |