the first language(s) acquired by a person; also known as NA-TIVE LANGUAGE or MOTHER TONGUE. A person who acquires more than one language from infancy or early childhood may have more than one first language.

one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next

The language learned first by an individual; also called home language or native language.

a student's first language, generally the language spoken at home.

'Native language'; or 'mother tongue', that is, the first language a child learns, as distinct from other languages they learn later. Children born to parents who speak two different languages often acquire two 'first' languages. The term 'first', in this context, does not imply any suggestion of the status of a language within society.

see mother tongue, L1.

A first language, native language, or mother tongue is the first language that a person learned. In terms of that view, the person is defined as a native speaker of the first language, although one may also be a native speaker of more than one language if all of the languages were learned without formal education, such as through cultural immersion before puberty. Often a child learns the basics of the first language(s) from family.