moedertaal
Afrikaans edit
Etymology edit
From Dutch moedertaal.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
moedertaal (plural moedertale)
Derived terms edit
Dutch edit
Alternative forms edit
- moederstaal (“mother tongue”)
Etymology edit
Compound of moeder (“mother”) + taal (“language”). The sense “mother tongue” was initially only used as a genitival noun phrase moeders taal, moederstaal, whence moerstaal; spellings without interfix -s- become normal for this sense in the 18th century.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
moedertaal f (plural moedertalen, diminutive moedertaaltje n)
- mother tongue
- Synonym: moerstaal
- Nederlands is mijn moedertaal.
- Dutch is my mother language.
- ancestral language (language that is the ancestor of another language)
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- Afrikaans: moedertaal
- Negerhollands: muder tael