monolingualism
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Monoglottism (Greek μόνος monos, "alone, solitary", + γλῶττα , "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as opposed to multilingualism. In a different context, "unilingualism" may refer to a language policy which enforces an official or national language over others.
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Article
20 sectionsContents
- Comparison with multilingualism
- Vocabulary size and verbal fluency
- Creative functioning
- Mental well-being
- Emotion and behavior
- Memory performance
- Verbal and non-verbal cognitive development
- Reasons for persistence
- Convergence principle
- Predominance of English
- Costs
- Education
- Economic
- National security
- Time and effort
- Job opportunities
- In the media
- See also
- References
- External links
Monoglottism (Greek μόνος monos, "alone, solitary", + γλῶττα , "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as opposed to multilingualism. In a different context, "unilingualism" may refer to a language policy which enforces an official or national language over others.
Being monolingual or unilingual is also said of a text, dictionary, or conversation written or conducted in only one language, and of an entity in which a single language is either used or officially recognized (in particular when being compared with bilingual or multilingual entities or in the presence of individuals speaking different languages). Note that monoglottism can only refer to lacking the ability to speak several languages. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population.