interlanguage

8.6

A language used by people with different first languages to talk to each other

noun
/ˌɪntərˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/

Specialized

: interlengua

Researchers study interlanguage to better understand how learners adapt their speech when conversing with people from different linguistic backgrounds.

Examples

In a multilingual classroom, students often use a shared interlanguage to communicate effectively.
They are able to recognize special features that may identify a pupil's language development as exceptional, distinguishing such features from interlanguage effect (p. A-3).

Academic text (2005)
The conference focused on how interlanguage can facilitate understanding among speakers of diverse native languages.

Synonyms

lingua franca

vsinterlanguage

1 6.4

A language people use to talk when they speak different first languages

is the systematically used shared language among varied native speakers

lingua

vsinterlanguage

1 8.2

A language people use to communicate across different groups

is specifically about a systematically used shared code among different native speakers

koine

vsinterlanguage

Specialized

9.9

A common language used by people who speak different native languages to communicate

is the systematically used shared language rather than a historical regional form

Antonyms

monolingual

1 4.3

A text or speech that uses only one language

How Widespread

interlanguage

Specialized

8.6

Wolof

1 9.8

national

∞ 2.0

local dialect

1 7.4

Surface Forms

interlanguage singular

interlanguages plural

Morphology

interlanguage = language (transparent) = inter + language

Direct combination of the productive prefix 'inter-' (between/among) and 'language', yielding a language used between speakers of different native tongues.

Etymology

The word interlanguage comes from the prefix inter- meaning 'between' and language meaning 'a way people speak'. So an interlanguage is a 'between-language' that people use to talk when they do not share the same native language.