Definition
母语 (mǔ yǔ) has two common uses: ① one's native language, the first language learned from birth (e.g. 中文是我的母语); ② in linguistics, a parent language from which others descend (e.g. 拉丁语是罗曼语族的母语). The first sense is far more frequent in daily life.
noun
native languagemother tongue(linguistics) parent language
Easily confused
- 沐浴mù yùsound-aliketo bathe, to take a bath (formal/literary)
Examples
- 母语。Hěnduō rén duì zìjǐ de mǔ yǔ yǒu hěn shēn de gǎnqíng.Many people have deep feelings for their native language.
- ，母语。Xuéxí wàiyǔ shí, mǔ yǔ de yǔfǎ guīzé huì yǐngxiǎng nǐ de lǐjiě.When learning a foreign language, the grammar rules of your native language can affect your understanding.
- ，母语。Zài yǔyánxué zhōng, Lādīngyǔ shì xǔduō Ōuzhōu yǔyán de mǔ yǔ.In linguistics, Latin is the parent language of many European languages.
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