lan‧guage S1 W1 / læŋɡwɪdʒ / 名词
1 English/French/Arabic etc [可数和不可数名词] a system of communication by written or spoken words, which is used by the people of a particular country or area :
How many languages do you speak?
one of the best-known poems in the English language
2 communication [不可数名词] the use of written or spoken words to communicate :
the origins of language
3 style/type of words [不可数名词] 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 [不可数名词] 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 同义词 swearing
6 computers [可数和不可数名词] technical a system of instructions for operating a computer :
a programming language for the web
7 signs/actions/sounds [可数和不可数名词] 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 )
COLLOCATIONS
动词
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
短语
sb’s command of a language (= someone’s ability to speak a language ) Does he have a good command of the language?
THESAURUS
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 代词 ces 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 短语 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.