language
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++lan·guage /ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 1 English/French/Arabic etc 英语/法语/阿拉伯语等 [countable, uncountable]LANGUAGE a system of communication by written or spoken words, which is used by the people of a particular country or area 〔某国家或地区的〕语言；语言文字 How many languages do you speak? 你能说几种语言？ one of the best-known poems in the English language 最著名的英语诗歌之一2 communication 沟通 [uncountable]LANGUAGE the use of written or spoken words to communicate 语言；言语；说话 the origins of language 语言的起源3 style/type of words 词语的风格/类型WORD, PHRASE, OR SENTENCE [uncountable] a particular style or type of words 〔特定风格或类型的〕用语；术语legal/medical/technical etc language The letter was written in complicated legal language. 这封信是用复杂的法律术语写的。spoken/written language The expression is mainly used in written language. 这个短语主要用在书面语中。ordinary/everyday language He is able to explain complicated ideas in simple everyday language. 他能够用简单的日常语言解释复杂的观点。literary/poetic language The plays are full of old-fashioned poetic language. 这些戏剧充斥着老掉牙的诗歌语言。language of the language of science 科学术语4 swearing 谩骂 [uncountable] informalSWEAR words that most people think are offensive 粗话，骂人话mind/watch your language spoken (=stop swearing) 注意你的言谈；嘴巴干净点bad/foul/abusive language 脏话/粗话/恶言5 strong language a) ANGRYangry words used to tell people exactly what you mean 措辞强硬的话，激烈的言辞 b) SWEARwords that most people think are offensive 粗话，骂人话 SYN swearing6 computers 计算机 [countable, uncountable] technicalTD a system of instructions for operating a computer 计算机语言 a programming language for the Web 一种网络编程语言7 signs/actions/sounds 手势/动作/声音 [countable, uncountable]WAY/METHOD signs, movements, or sounds that express ideas or feelings 〔使用手势、动作或声音的〕表达方式，交流方式language of the language of bees 蜜蜂的交流方式 the language of dolphins 海豚的交流方式 → body language, sign language, → speak the same language at speak(11) COLLOCATIONSverbsspeak a language 说某种语言Can you speak a foreign language? 你会说外语吗？use a language 用某种语言The children use their native language at home. 孩子们在家说母语。learn a language 学习语言Immigrants are expected to learn the language of their new country. 移民应该要学习移入国的语言。master a language (=succeed in learning a language well) 掌握语言nShe had had a long struggle to master the Russian language.know a language 懂一种语言nHe had lived in Japan, but did not know the language.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + languagea foreign language 外语He found learning a foreign language extremely difficult. 他发现学外语极其困难。the English/Japanese/Spanish etc language 英语/日语/西班牙语等She had some knowledge of the Spanish language. 她会一点西班牙语。somebody’s first/native language (=the language someone first learned as a child) 某人的母语His first language was Polish. 他的母语是波兰语。a second language (=a language you speak that is not your first language) 第二语言nMost of the students learned English as their second language.modern languages (=languages that are spoken now) 现代语言nThe school has a good modern languages department.a dead language (=a language that is no longer spoken) 不再使用的语言nShe didn’t see the point of learning a dead language.an official language (=the language used for official business in a country) 官方语言nCanada has two official languages: English and French.a common language (=a language that more than one person or group speaks, so that they can understand each other) 共同语言nMost of the countries of South America share a common language: Spanish.language + NOUNthe language barrier (=the problem of communicating with someone when you do not speak the same language) 语言障碍Because of the language barrier, it was hard for doctors to give good advice to patients. 由于存在语言障碍，医生难以给予病人有效建议。a language student/learner 语言学习者Language learners often have problems with tenses. 语言学习者往往在掌握时态方面有问题。a language teacher 语言教师na book for language teacherslanguage teaching 语言教学nrecent developments in language teaching phrasessomebody’s command of a language (=someone’s ability to speak a language) 某人对一种语言的掌握nDoes he have a good command of the language? THESAURUSndifferent kinds of languagedialect a form of a language that is spoken in one area of a country, with different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other areasCantonese is only one of many Chinese dialects.the local dialectaccent the way that someone pronounces words, because of where they were born or live, or their social classKaren has a strong New Jersey accent.an upper class accentslang very informal spoken language, used especially by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people or criminalsTeenage slang changes all the time.‘Dosh’ is slang for ‘money’.terminology formal the technical words or expressions that are used in a particular subjectmusical terminologyPatients are often unfamiliar with medical terminology. jargon especially disapproving words and phrases used in a particular profession or subject and which are difficult for other people to understandThe instructions were written in complicated technical jargon.‘Outsourcing’ is business jargon for sending work to people outside a company to do. The letter was full of legal jargon.techniques used in language 语言技巧metaphor a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing 暗喻，隐喻The beehive is a metaphor for human society. 蜂房可喻指人类社会。simile an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words as or like, for example ‘as white as snow’ 明喻The poet uses the simile ‘soft like clay’. 诗人运用了明喻 “如陶土般柔软” 。irony the use of words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing 反语，反讽‘I’m so happy to hear that, ’ he said, with more than a trace of irony in his voice. “听到这消息可真叫我高兴。” 他说道，语气中带着重重的嘲讽。bathos a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important 突降The play is too sentimental and full of bathos. 该剧过于煽情，用了太多突降法。hyperbole a way of describing something by saying that it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is – used especially to excite people’s feelings 夸张In his speeches, he used a lot of hyperbole. 他在演讲中运用了大量夸张手法。journalistic hyperbole 新闻报道的夸张alliteration the use of several words together that all begin with the same sound, in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry 头韵the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sweet birds sang softly’ sweet birds sang softly中的s头韵imagery the use of words to describe ideas or actions in a way that makes the reader connect the ideas with pictures in their mind 意象the use of water imagery in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ 菲茨杰拉德小说《了不起的盖茨比》中水的意象的运用She uses the imagery of a bird’s song to represent eternal hope. 她用鸟鸣的意象来象征永恒的希望。rhetorical question a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer 反问When he said ‘how can these attitudes still exist in a civilized society?’, he was asking a rhetorical question. “这样的态度怎么能继续存在于文明社会中？” 他这句话是在反问。
Examples from the Corpus
language• language skills• She can speak four different languages - French, German, English, and Dutch.• Every pupil has to learn at least one foreign language.• the Japanese language• Confused by the legal language of the letter, Patterson called his attorney.• How many languages do you speak?• People often find the medical language used by doctors confusing.• English is the island's official language, but people also speak French and Creole.• the programming language C++• You never heard such language! It was disgusting.• Books about physics are usually written in highly technical language.• a fascinating article about the language of baseball• It's difficult living in a country where you don't speak the language.• the language of music• Every child develops the natural ability to use language.• "What language do they speak in Brazil?" "Portuguese."• There are ways of communicating without language.legal/medical/technical etc language• I write reams of dry prose with appropriately technical language and what my colleagues consider scientific consequence.• A will is a legal document, and it has to be written down in the correct legal language.• In more technical language, its position and momentum can both simultaneously be known.• One person's jargon is another's technical language.• Includes functional, professional, social, technical language and situations, together with associated body language.• First, they help to unlock the immanent structure of the legal language spoken in a specific arena.• In other words, the medical language facilitated liberal support of a degree of invasiveness greater than that proposed by a conservative.• You can use technical language for the expert which is not appropriate for the layperson.bad/foul/abusive language• They accompanied bad language with good works.• If he spoke, he would vent the most wicked and abusive language he had ever imagined, much less expressed.• The Professional's wife, acting as Steward, was dismissed for bad language and automatically it cost her husband his job.• She had learned bad language from her stepsons.• He doesn't like bad language.• The matter of sexually abusive language in texts is in some senses a separate issue.• As Sue Lees shows, the way pupils use sexually abusive language to insult each other in schools presents particular problems for teachers.• And Hollywood has discovered that bad language is good box office.programming language• To deal with that issue, Java was deliberately crippled as a programming language.• Java is a programming language that Sun unveiled last year.• The best-known example is Java, a programming language from Sun Microsystems that can bring web pages to life.• Being written in different programming languages, there was no literal similarity between the programs.• It will also use ObjectStore to recognise code, data and objects written in different programming languages.• It would also run on the Java programming language.• Interfacing of object-oriented programming languages to databases and expert systems.• The algebraic approach to programming language semantics has several features to recommend it.From Longman Business Dictionarylanguagelan‧guage /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ noun1[countable, uncountable] a system of speaking and writing used by people in one country or areathe French languageDo you speak any foreign languages?Trading in Europe means communicating in more than one language.2[uncountable] the kind of words and style used in one kind of writing or by people in a particular job or activitytechnical language3 (also computer language) [countable, uncountable]COMPUTING a system of commands and instructions used for operating a computerInternet Protocol (IP) is a computer language that allows email users to communicate with one another.the business-oriented Cobol computer language → assembly language → high-level language → machine language → object language → programming languageOrigin language (1200-1300) Old French langue “tongue, language”, from Latin lingualan·guage noun →COLLOCATIONS1 →THESAURUS1LDOCE OnlineChineseSyllable
communication by system of Business a Corpus written
language
lan‧guage S1 W1 /ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
noun
How many languages do you speak?
one of the best-known poems in the English language
2. COMMUNICATION [uncountable] the use of written or spoken words to communicate:
the origins of language
3. STYLE/TYPE OF WORDS [uncountable] a particular style or type of words
legal/medical/technical etc language
The letter was written in complicated legal language.
spoken/written language
The expression is mainly used in written language.
ordinary/everyday language
He is able to explain complicated ideas in simple everyday language.
literary/poetic language
The plays are full of old-fashioned poetic language.
language of
the language of science
4. SWEARING [uncountable] informal words that most people think are offensive
mind/watch your language spoken (=stop swearing)
bad/foul/abusive language
5. strong language
a. angry words used to tell people exactly what you mean
b. words that most people think are offensive
SYN swearing
6. COMPUTERS [uncountable and countable] technical a system of instructions for operating a computer:
a programming language for the web
7. SIGNS/ACTIONS/SOUNDS [uncountable and countable] signs, movements, or sounds that express ideas or feelings
language of
the language of bees
the language of dolphins
⇨ body language, sign language, ⇨ speak the same language at speak(11)
■ verbs
▪speak a language Can you speak a foreign language?
▪use a language The children use their native language at home.
▪learn a language Immigrants are expected to learn the language of their new country.
▪master a language (=succeed in learning a language well) She had had a long struggle to master the Russian language.
▪know a language He had lived in Japan, but did not know the language.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + language
▪a foreign language He found learning a foreign language extremely difficult.
▪the English/Japanese/Spanish etc language She had some knowledge of the Spanish language.
▪sb’s first/native language (=the language someone first learned as a child) His first language was Polish.
▪a second language (=a language you speak that is not your first language) Most of the students learned English as their second language.
▪modern languages (=languages that are spoken now) The school has a good modern languages department.
▪a dead language (=a language that is no longer spoken) She didn’t see the point of learning a dead language.
▪an official language (=the language used for official business in a country) Canada has two official languages: English and French.
▪a common language (=a language that more than one person or group speaks, so that they can understand each other) Most of the countries of South America share a common language: Spanish.
■ language + NOUN
▪the language barrier (=the problem of communicating with someone when you do not speak the same language) Because of the language barrier, it was hard for doctors to give good advice to patients.
▪a language student/learner Language learners often have problems with tenses.
▪a language teacher a book for language teachers
▪language teaching recent developments in language teaching
■ phrases
▪sb’s command of a language (=someone’s ability to speak a language) Does he have a good command of the language?
■ different kinds of language
▪dialect a form of a language that is spoken in one area of a country, with different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other areas: Cantonese is only one of many Chinese dialects. | the local dialect
▪accent the way that someone pronounces words, because of where they were born or live, or their social class: Karen has a strong New Jersey accent. | an upper class accent
▪slang very informal spoken language, used especially by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people or criminals: Teenage slang changes all the time. | ‘Dosh’ is slang for ‘money’.
▪terminology formal the technical words or expressions that are used in a particular subject: musical terminology | Patients are often unfamiliar with medical terminology.
▪jargon especially disapproving words and phrases used in a particular profession or subject and which are difficult for other people to understand: The instructions were written in complicated technical jargon. | ‘Outsourcing’ is business jargon for sending work to people outside a company to do. | The letter was full of legal jargon.
■ techniques used in language
▪metaphor a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing: The beehive is a metaphor for human society.
▪simile an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words as or like, for example ‘as white as snow’: The poet uses the simile ‘soft like clay’.
▪irony the use of words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing: ‘I’m so happy to hear that,’ he said, with more than a trace of irony in his voice.
▪bathos a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important: The play is too sentimental and full of bathos.
▪hyperbole a way of describing something by saying that it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is – used especially to excite people’s feelings: In his speeches, he used a lot of hyperbole. | journalistic hyperbole
▪alliteration the use of several words together that all begin with the same sound, in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry: the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sweet birds sang softly’
▪imagery the use of words to describe ideas or actions in a way that makes the reader connect the ideas with pictures in their mind: the use of water imagery in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ | She uses the imagery of a bird’s song to represent eternal hope.
▪rhetorical question a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer: When he said ‘how can these attitudes still exist in a civilized society?’, he was asking a rhetorical question.
lan‧guage S1 W1 /ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
noun Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: langue 'tongue, language', from Latin lingua
1. ENGLISH/FRENCH/ARABIC ETC [uncountable and countable] a system of communication by written or spoken words, which is used by the people of a particular country or area:Language: Old French
Origin: langue 'tongue, language', from Latin lingua
2. COMMUNICATION [uncountable] the use of written or spoken words to communicate:
3. STYLE/TYPE OF WORDS [uncountable] a particular style or type of words
legal/medical/technical etc language
spoken/written language
ordinary/everyday language
literary/poetic language
language of
4. SWEARING [uncountable] informal words that most people think are offensive
mind/watch your language spoken (=stop swearing)
bad/foul/abusive language
5. strong language
a. angry words used to tell people exactly what you mean
b. words that most people think are offensive
SYN swearing
6. COMPUTERS [uncountable and countable] technical a system of instructions for operating a computer:
7. SIGNS/ACTIONS/SOUNDS [uncountable and countable] signs, movements, or sounds that express ideas or feelings
language of
⇨ body language, sign language, ⇨ speak the same language at speak(11)
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language a particular style of speaking or writing 指某种类型的言语或语言 ：◆ Give your instructions in everyday language. 用通俗的语言发布指令。 ◆ the language of the legal profession 法律专业用语 vocabulary all the words that a person knows or uses, or all the words in a particular language; the words that people use when they are talking about a particular subject 指一个人掌握或使用的词汇、某种语言的词汇、某一学科的词汇 ：◆ to have a wide/limited vocabulary 词汇丰富／有限 ◆ The word has become part of advertising vocabulary. 这个词已经成了广告用语。 terms a way of expressing yourself or of saying sth 指表达方式、措辞、说法 ：◆ I'll try to explain in simple terms. 我会尽量讲得通俗易懂。 wording [ 指措辞、用词 ：◆ It was the standard form of wording for a consent letter. 这是同意书的标准用词。 terminology ( the set of technical words or expressions used in a particular subject; words used with particular meaningsrather
指某学科的术语、有特别含义的用语、专门用语 ：◆ medical terminology 医学术语 ◆ Scientists are constantly developing new terminologies. 科学家不断发展新的专门用语。 NOTE Literary/poetic terminology is used for talking about literature or poetry.Literary/poetic language is used for writing in a literary or poetic style.* literary/poetic terminology 用于谈论文学或诗歌，literary/poetic language 用于文学或诗歌创作。
Patterns
formal/informal/everyday language/vocabulary/termsbusiness/scientific/technical/specialized language/vocabulary/terminologyA word enters the language/the vocabulary.
