ambilingual

English

Etymology

ambi- +‎ lingual

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡwəl

Adjective

ambilingual (not comparable)

1. Speaking two or more languages with complete fluency and such that there is no subject or domain of communication in which one language is preferred over others.
   • 2007, Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, Looking for the Horse Latitudes, page i:

     The ambilingual poet (as I regard myself) dealing in the transcription of his or her own poetry, though one would assume able to take more liberties, ends up having more trouble in fashioning equivalents.

   • 2009, M.A.K. Halliday, Jonathan J. Webster, Language and Society: Volume 10, page 8:

     Some bilingual speakers, including some who are ambilingual, can be said to have two (occasionally more) native languages. There is no exact criterion for this; but one could say arbitrarily that any language learnt by the child before the age of instruction, from parents, from others, such as a nurse, looking after it, or from other children, is an L1. It is clear, however, that only a small proportion of those who learn two or more languages in this way become ambilingual speakers; and conversely, not all ambilinguals have two L1s.

   • 2019, Tarni Prasad, A Course in Linguistics, page 230:

     But true ambilingual speakers are rare as most of the bilingual speakers restrict at least one of their languages to certain uses.

2. Having two languages that are used for any and all communications, where neither language is dominant.
   • 1978, Joshua A. Fishman, Advances in the study of societal multilingualism, page 390:

     When two languages in a territory function for the same people and both can be used officially and at the dialect level we have what is called an ambilingual situation.

   • 2007, Chris U. Agbedo, Problems of Multilingual Nations: The Nigerian Perspective, page 15:

     In a typical ambilingual area it is nearly impossible to tell which language is used when in a given settings.

   • 2018, Axel Fleisch, “Colonial legacies and linguistic repertoires in European Amazigh”, in Yolanda Aixelà Cabré, editor, In the Footsteps of Spanish Colonialism in Morocco and Equatorial Guinea, page 190:

     We are moving from an ambilingual situation in Catalonia to one where the use of Catalonian is enhanced in public life, cultural activities and work environments. In this situation, being excluseively Spanish-speaking may increasingly be experienced as a disadvantage by monolinguals.

Derived terms

• ambilingualism

 

Noun

ambilingual (plural ambilinguals)

1. A person who is ambilingual.
   • 1986, Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, Bilingualism: Basic Principles, page 8:

     Although he comes very near to being an ambilingual in that he can read, write, understand and speak equally well in French and English, his attempts to translate one of his own books led to failure.

   • 1986, Francis Britto, Diglossia: A Study of the Theory With Application to Tamil, page 296:

     True ambilinguals are said to be rare, since most people capable of speaking two languages 'restrict at least one of their languages to ceratin uses: and in any given use, one or the other language tends to predominate.'

   • 2002, Marc Shell, Irving Babbitt, American Babel, page 459:

     Other ambilinguals active on American soil include Abraham Cahan (Yiddish and English), Raymond Federman (French and English), Rosario Ferré (Spanish and English), and Joseph Tusiani (Italian and English).