Meaning of sesquilingual | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Pertaining to one language, plus a second in a limited capacity, degree, or content.
   not-comparable, rare
2. Able to communicate fluently in one language, but only to a degree in another.
   not-comparable, rare

Examples

“Typically, it is believed that this sesquilingual discourse is due to the absence of suitable terms in the inferior language.”

“Ireland's sesquilingual situation is thus the inverse of the 'normal' European situation, where English is the prestige language and the native language of lower prestige.”

“Being already sesquilingual, the Hong Kong Chinese are therefore quite receptive to the teaching of another language.”

“'Sesquilingual' is not a mythical animal like the native speaker or foreign learner, but a newfangled term for someone who is good in one language, say English, and only half as...”

“2004 Bill Sherk, 500 Years of New Words, Dundam, 2004, p. 187. The author of this dictionary coined the term sesquilingual in 1975 to describe people who know one language and part of another, a term that probably applies to the majority of Canadians, who know English and a smattering of French, or vice versa.”

CEFR level