semilingual
nounEtymology From semi- + lingual.
1
A person who knows two or more languages but exhibits low profile in all of them, that involves having poor vocabulary and wrong grammar.
semilingual
adjEtymology From semi- + lingual.
1
Having a low profile in all of several languages that one can speak.
- The harmful effects of semilingualism on the identity and psyche, together with an incomplete mastery of Swedish, made the semilingual person socially handicapped in comparison with the monolingual Swede.2014, Mia Halonen, Pasi Ihalainen, Language Policies in Finland and Sweden: Interdisciplinary and Multi-sited Comparisons:
- Derived terms
- semilingualism