heritage language
noun1
The language of one's ancestors, especially a language one would like to learn.
- "I thought it was important for the American children to learn their heritage language," Palumbo said.1973 November 28, “Italian-American Receives Homeland's Award”, in Public Opinion, Franklin Repository, volume 105, number 111, page 22:
2
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A minority language that one acquires as a first language but uses and/or is exposed to less later in life in favor of a more dominant majority language.
- Spanish is considered a heritage language in the United States.
- Related terms
- heritage speaker