heritage language

American

[her-i-tij lang-gwij] / ˈhɛr ɪ tɪdʒ ˌlæŋ gwɪdʒ /

noun

a language used at home and spoken natively by the adults in a family, but often not fully acquired by subsequent generations whose schooling and other socialization occurs primarily in a different language, usually a dominant or official language in the surrounding society.

I speak Polish as a heritage language, but I never studied it in school.

Etymology

Origin of heritage language

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It was the moment the United States lost what could have been one of its greatest advantages: a rich mosaic of multi-generational heritage language speakers.

From Salon

Spanish Sin Pena’s music-based learning services are just one example of educators using the genre as a tool to teach both language and culture to a growing number of U.S.-born Latinos who are not fluent in their heritage language.

From Los Angeles Times

What all of this amounts to is a case study in how society in the 2020s is wrestling with these giant concepts: belonging, identity, lived experience, heritage, language, labels, offence.

From BBC

Customs and Border Protection agents and consular personnel on the tribe’s cultural heritage, language and traditions.

From Seattle Times

Instilling East African culture and heritage language connects children with elders’ wisdom and the wider community.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023