LANGUAGE1 the words used by the people in a particular country or area2 the use of words to communicate3 the first language that you learn as a child4 when someone can speak more than one language5 the language used by a particular group of peopleRELATED WORDSsee alsoSPEAKTRANSLATEWORD/PHRASE/SENTENCEMEANING1 the words used by the people in a particular country or area 某一国家或地区所用的语言language /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [countable noun]a system of words, phrases, and grammar that is used by the people who live in a particular country 语言speak a language ‘What language do they speak in Brazil?’ ‘Portuguese.’ “巴西说什么语言？”“葡萄牙语。” She can speak four different languages - French, German, English, and Dutch. 她会说四种不同的语言—法语、德语、英语和荷兰语。foreign language Every pupil has to learn at least one foreign language. 每一位学生都必须至少学一门外语。official languagethe language used by the government 官方语言 English is the island's official language, but people also speak French and Creole. 英语是岛上的官方语言，但那里的人也说法语和克里奥语。speak the languagebe able to speak the language of the country you are in 说当地语言 It's difficult living in a country where you don't speak the language. 生活在一个国家却不会说那里的语言，这是很艰难的。lingo /ˈlɪŋgəʊ/ [singular noun]informala foreign language 【非正式】〔外国的〕语言speak/know the lingo Travelling in Spain is much easier if you can speak the lingo. 如果你会说西班牙语，在西班牙旅行就容易得多。learn/pick up the lingo He picked up the local lingo straight away. 他马上就学会了当地的语言。dialect /ˈdaɪəlekt/ [countable/uncountable noun]a form of a language which is spoken by the people who live in one area of a country, and which has different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other forms of that language 方言，地方话，土语 In this region, the dialect sounds a lot like German. 这地区的方言听起来很像德语。 At home, they speak in dialect. 他们在家说方言。Yorkshire/German/Cantonese etc dialect In some Yorkshire dialects, people say ‘spice’ instead of ‘sweets’ or ‘candy’. 约克郡的某些方言里，人们不说sweets或candy〔糖果〕，而是说spice。dialect word ‘Nowt’ is a northern dialect word meaning ‘nothing’. nowt是北方的方言，意思是nothing〔没有东西〕。dialect of He spoke a dialect of French that I found hard to understand. 他说的是法语的一种方言，我很难听懂。slang /slæŋ/ [uncountable noun]very informal words used in a particular country or place 俚语 I was totally confused by the slang that the other kids were using. 其他孩子说的俚语，我完全听不懂。slang for ‘Bladdered’ is slang for ‘drunk’. bladdered是drunk〔喝醉的〕的俚语。slang word/term/expression ‘Shepherd’ was a slang term for a spy. shepherd 以前是spy〔间谍〕的俚语。US/British/Southern etc slang ‘Baloney’ is US slang for nonsense. baloney 是美国俚语，意思是废话。colloquial /kəˈləʊkwiəl/ [adjective]language that iscolloquial is only used in conversation, not in formal situations 口语的，会话的 It's a useful little phrase book, full of colloquial expressions. 这是一本实用的常用语小手册，里面有很多口语表达方式。 The best way of improving your colloquial English is by listening to native speakers. 提高英语口语水平的最佳途径是听以英语为母语的人说话。 You shouldn't use phrases like ‘sort of’ in essays -- they're too colloquial. 文章中不应该用sort of那样的短语—太口语化了。2 the use of words to communicate 利用语言交流language /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [uncountable noun]the use of words, grammar etc to communicate with other people 语言 Every child develops the natural ability to use language. 每个儿童都逐渐具有使用语言的这种天生的能力。 There are ways of communicating without language. 还有不用语言进行交流的种种方式。linguistic /lɪŋˈgwɪstɪk/ [adjective usually before noun]connected with people's ability to use language 语言的linguistic ability/skills/development etc Hearing difficulties can slow down a child's linguistic development. 听觉障碍会阻碍儿童的语言发展。 It is difficult to obtain accurate information on which to base an assessment of a child's linguistic abilities. 评估儿童语言能力所要依据的准确资料很难获取。3 the first language that you learn as a child 小时候学的第一种语言somebody's first language /somebodyˈs ˌfɜːʳst ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [countable noun]the first language you learn as a child - use this when you are comparing someone's first language with other languages that they learn later 某人的第一语言〔母语〕〔尤用于和以后所学的其他语言相比较〕 My first language is Dutch. 我的母语是荷兰语。 My daughter has several classmates whose first language is Bengali. 我女儿有几个同学，他们的第一语言是孟加拉语。somebody's mother tongue /somebodyˈs ˈmʌðəʳ ˌtʌŋ/ [countable noun]the first language you learn as a child - use this especially to talk about someone who now lives in a country where a different language is spoken 某人的母语〔尤用于指某人现居于说不同语言的国家〕 We run classes for students whose mother tongue is not English. 我们为母语不是英语的学生开办学习班。native speaker /ˌneɪtɪv ˈspiːkəʳ/ [countable noun]anative speaker of a language is someone who learned that language first as a child 以某种语言为母语的人，说本国语的人 The book is aimed at learners of English rather than native speakers. 这本书的对象是英语学习者，而不是母语是英语的人。native speaker of There has been an assumption in the past that anyone who is a native speaker of English is equipped to teach English. 过去有种观点，就是以英语为母语的人都能够教英语。4 when someone can speak more than one language 某人能说一种以上的语言bilingual /baɪˈlɪŋgwəl/ [adjective]someone who isbilingual can speak two languages perfectly 会讲两种语言的 I'm bilingual - my mother was French. 我会说两种语言—我母亲是法国人。 Many of the pupils are bilingual in Welsh and English. 许多学生都会说威尔士语和英语两种语言。somebody's second language /somebodyˈs ˌsekənd ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [countable noun]yoursecond language is a language that you speak well and often use, but not the first language that you learned as a child 某人的第二语言 Halima was born in Kenya. Her first language is Swahili, and her second language is English. 哈利玛出生于肯尼亚，她的第一语言是斯瓦希里语，第二语言是英语。5 the language used by a particular group of people 某一群体所使用的语言language /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ [uncountable noun]the kind of words used by people in a particular job or activity 〔某一行业或活动的〕专门用语，专门语言legal/medical/business etc language Books about physics are usually written in highly technical language. 物理学方面的书籍通常使用非常专门的语言。 People often find the medical language used by doctors confusing. 人们经常觉得医生所用的医学用语令人费解。the language of something a fascinating article about the language of baseball 一篇关于棒球用语的引人入胜的文章terminology /ˌtɜːʳmɪˈnɒlədʒi, ˌtɜːʳməˈnɒlədʒiǁ-ˈnɑː-/ [uncountable noun]the special words that people working in science, medicine, the law etc use to describe things 〔科学、医学或法律等方面的〕术语 It is important that lawyers use the correct terminology when they prepare contracts. 律师草拟合同时使用准确的术语是很重要的。scientific/linguistic/computer etc terminology It was an interesting programme, which gave the facts without using too much scientific terminology. 这是一个很有趣的节目，讲解事实，但没有使用太多的科学术语。jargon /ˈdʒɑːʳgənǁ-gən, -gɑːn/ [uncountable noun]words used by people who do a particular job or who are interested in a particular subject, which are difficult for ordinary people to understand 〔难懂的〕行话，术语 When you first learn about computers, there is a whole lot of jargon to understand. 刚开始学电脑的时候，要学会很多术语。management/legal/medical/computer jargon I hate all this management jargon about ‘upskilling’ and ‘downsizing’. 我讨厌这些什么“提高技能”、“缩减规模”的管理术语。slang /slæŋ/ [uncountable noun]informal words that are used by specific groups of people, for example soldiers or prisoners 〔士兵、囚犯等特定群体所用的〕俚语army/soldiers’/prison etc slang ‘Doolally’, meaning ‘crazy’, is 19th century soldiers’ slang, and comes from the name of an Indian town. 〔疯狂的〕是19世纪的军俚，源自印度的一个镇名。in layman's terms /ɪn ˈleɪmənz tɜːʳmz/ [adverb]not using special, technical words that are hard to understand 用外行〔通俗】的语言 I want a book that will explain to me in layman's terms how my computer works. 我想要一本用通俗的语言解释电脑工作原理的书。-speak /-spiːk/ []management/boardroom/PR etc -speaka type of language and the words used by managers etc - use this especially to talk about a way of speaking that you think is silly or unnecessarily different from normal language 管理层/会议室/公关等的行话〔尤用于指你认为这是一种愚蠢的说法，或认为没有必要使用〕 ‘What on earth does he mean, ‘window’?’ ‘Oh, that's management-speak for ‘opportunity’.’ “他说的‘窗口’到底是什么意思？”“噢，那是管理层的行话，就是指机会。” Her email was so full of corporate-speak, you hardly realized that what she was saying was that we were all fired. 她的电子邮件里满篇都是公司的行话，你很难明白她说的就是我们都被解雇了。