interlanguage

Etymology

From inter- +‎ language. In the language acquisition sense introduced by Larry Selinker in 1972.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɜɹˈlæŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋɡwɪdʒ

Noun

interlanguage (plural interlanguages)

1. A language generated by a student of a foreign language that incorporates aspects of their native language and the target language.

   Trasyanka and Surzhyk are interlanguages: a Belarusian–Russian and a Ukrainian–Russian mixed language.

   • 2011, Anna Trosborg, Interlanguage Pragmatics: Requests, Complaints, and Apologies, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 54:

     The learner's selection from his/her store of interlanguage rules is not haphazard but systematic and predictable, based as it is on his/her existing rule system in much the same way as the native speaker bases his/her speech on the internalized knowledge of the L1 system.

2. A lingua franca, a common language used by speakers of different languages

   Synonyms: koine, lingua franca

   Latin used to be the European interlanguage. Currently English widely serves this purpose.

   • 2011 October 28, Adam Thirlwell, “The Joyful Side of Translation”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     As [David] Bellos points out, those born as English speakers are now a minority of English speakers: most speak it as a second language. English is the world’s biggest interlanguage.

3. A pidgin or creole

Further reading

• interlanguage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia