Dictionary

ambilingual en · ADJ

Etymology

From ambi- + lingual.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Speaking two or more languages with complete fluency and such that there is no subject or domain of communication in which one language is preferred over others.
   • The ambilingual poet (as I regard myself) dealing in the transcription of his or her own poetry, though one would assume able to take more liberties, ends up having more trouble in fashioning equivalents. 2007, Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, Looking for the Horse Latitudes, page i:
   • But true ambilingual speakers are rare as most of the bilingual speakers restrict at least one of their languages to certain uses. 2019, Tarni Prasad, A Course in Linguistics, page 230:
   • Some bilingual speakers, including some who are ambilingual, can be said to have two (occasionally more) native languages. There is no exact criterion for this; but one could say arbitrarily that any language learnt by the child before the age of instruction, from parents, from others, such as a nurse, looking after it, or from other children, is an L1. It is clear, however, that only a small proportion of those who learn two or more languages in this way become ambilingual speakers; and conversely, not all ambilinguals have two L1s. 2009, M.A.K. Halliday, Jonathan J. Webster, Language and Society: Volume 10, page 8:
2. (not-comparable) Having two languages that are used for any and all communications, where neither language is dominant.
   • In a typical ambilingual area it is nearly impossible to tell which language is used when in a given settings. 2007, Chris U. Agbedo, Problems of Multilingual Nations: The Nigerian Perspective, page 15:
   • When two languages in a territory function for the same people and both can be used officially and at the dialect level we have what is called an ambilingual situation. 1978, Joshua A. Fishman, Advances in the study of societal multilingualism, page 390:
   • We are moving from an ambilingual situation in Catalonia to one where the use of Catalonian is enhanced in public life, cultural activities and work environments. In this situation, being excluseively Spanish-speaking may increasingly be experienced as a disadvantage by monolinguals. 2018, Axel Fleisch, “Colonial legacies and linguistic repertoires in European Amazigh”, in Yolanda Aixelà Cabré, editor, In the Footsteps of Spanish Colonialism in Morocco and Equatorial Guinea, page 190:

Deriveds

ambilingualism

ambilingual en · NOUN

Etymology

From ambi- + lingual.

Meanings

1. A person who is ambilingual.
   • True ambilinguals are said to be rare, since most people capable of speaking two languages 'restrict at least one of their languages to ceratin uses: and in any given use, one or the other language tends to predominate.' 1986, Francis Britto, Diglossia: A Study of the Theory With Application to Tamil, page 296:
   • Although he comes very near to being an ambilingual in that he can read, write, understand and speak equally well in French and English, his attempts to translate one of his own books led to failure. 1986, Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, Bilingualism: Basic Principles, page 8:
   • Other ambilinguals active on American soil include Abraham Cahan (Yiddish and English), Raymond Federman (French and English), Rosario Ferré (Spanish and English), and Joseph Tusiani (Italian and English). 2002, Marc Shell, Irving Babbitt, American Babel, page 459:

Forms

Relateds

equilingual