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Glite Dictionary
language area

language area

6.5
A part of the left side of the brain that helps people speak and understand words
  • noun
  • /ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ ˈɛəriə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : área del lenguaje
  • The language area in the brain is responsible for processing words and sentences.

Examples

  • Damage to the language area can result in difficulties with speaking and understanding language.

  • This is the very damaged portion... of the left hemisphere, which happens to overlie... the language area of the brain.

    Coma (2007)

  • So in fact, there's agreement... between the two analyses that he's not... activating the language area in response to the voices.

    Coma (2007)

  • Researchers found that activity in the language area increased when participants listened to familiar songs.

Synonyms

language zone
vslanguage area
  • Specialized
6.5

A part of the brain that controls understanding and producing speech

is broader and also includes centers for speech production

Surface Forms

language area singular
language areas plural

Morphology

language + area

The phrase 'language area' composes straightforwardly as an 'area' associated with 'language' — a region used for language processing. This modifier+head pattern is cross-linguistically common and directly inferable from the constituent meanings, so a B1 learner who knows 'language' and 'area' should understand the intended sense.

Etymology

Language area comes from thinking of the brain like a map: the word area means a place or neighborhood and language shows what happens there — words and speech are made and understood. So, the phrase means 'a part of the brain used for language'.