Dictionary

dead language en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. A language which no longer has any native speakers.
   • Supper being over, the lawyer took his leave, and the doctor began to ſound the learned clerk reſpecting his proficiency in the dead languages. "As to dead languages," replied the ſchoolmafter, "I was once a vaſt pretty ſcholar indeed, but want of exercise has made me main ſlack—I can't get over my ground as I uſed to do. Then as to the t'other dead fellow, I could never greek it at all, that's flat. And, Lord bleſs you! my Latin is of no more uſe to me here than—than—" Here he ſtuck for want of a ſimile; when Mr. Le Dupe helped him out by ſaying, "that it is to a young man at college, where it is conſidered a pedantic inſult, and an unpardonable bore, to utter a Latin ſentence." 1799, Edward Dubois, A Piece of Family Biography, volume II, page 20:

Forms

Coordinates

living language

Synonyms

extinct language

Translations (42)

id bahasa mati (language with no native speakers) · ro limbă moartă (language with no native speakers) · fr langue ancienne (language with no native speakers) · pt língua morta (language with no native speakers) · eo mortinta lingvo (language with no native speakers) · eu hizkuntza hil (language with no native speakers) · pl język wymarły (language with no native speakers) · kk өлген тіл (language with no native speakers) · tl patay na wika (language with no native speakers) · es lengua muerta (language with no native speakers) · hu holt nyelv (language with no native speakers) · tr ölü dil (language with no native speakers) · fi kuollut kieli (language with no native speakers) · ca llengua morta (language with no native speakers) · gl lingua morta (language with no native speakers) · no dødt språk (language with no native speakers) · ka მკვდარი ენა (language with no native speakers) · vi tử ngữ (language with no native speakers) · ar لُغَة مُنْقَرِضَة (language with no native speakers) · ar لُغَة مُنْدَثِرَة (language with no native speakers) · ta வழக்கிழந்த மொழி (language with no native speakers) · az ölü dil (language with no native speakers) · lt mi̇̀rusioji kalbà (language with no native speakers) · ar لُغَة بَائِدَة (language with no native speakers) · ko 사어 (language with no native speakers) · nl dode taal (language with no native speakers) · cmn 滅絕語言 /灭绝语言 (language with no native speakers) · ru мёртвый язы́к (language with no native speakers) · lt mi̇̀rusi kalbà (language with no native speakers) · fr langue morte (language with no native speakers) · et surnud keel (language with no native speakers) · sv utdött språk (language with no native speakers) · pam meteng amanu (language with no native speakers) · ar لُغَة مَيِّتَة (language with no native speakers) · de tote Sprache (language with no native speakers) · it lingua estinta (language with no native speakers) · ja 死語 (language with no native speakers) · uk мертва мова (language with no native speakers) · km ភាសាស្លាប់ (language with no native speakers) · kn ಸತ್ತಭಾಷೆ (language with no native speakers) · cmn 死語 /死语 (language with no native speakers) · cmn 死語言 /死语言 (language with no native speakers)