bilingüe

Bilingüe is a Spanish adjective meaning “able to speak two languages” or “relating to two languages.” It can also function as a noun to denote a person who is bilingual. The term is common in education, sociology, and linguistics, where it is used to describe individuals or communities that use two languages in daily life, work, or schooling.

Etymology: bilingüe derives from bi- meaning “two” and lingua meaning “language,” via French bilingue. It is cognate with the English word bilingual. The spelling includes a diaeresis over the u.

Usage and concepts: A bilingual person can vary in proficiency across languages; some are balanced bilinguals with similar command in both languages, others are dominant in one. Bilingualism can be acquired from birth (simultaneous bilingualism) or learned after early childhood (sequential bilingualism).

Contexts: The term is widely used in education to describe bilingual programs, in language policy and demographics to describe speaker populations, and in translation and interpretation. In sociolinguistics, bilingualism interacts with code-switching, language maintenance, and language shift.

Examples: In many countries, Spanish-English bilinguals are common; Catalan-Spanish bilinguals in Catalonia; and Swiss German-French-Italian bilingual contexts in Switzerland.

See also: bilingual education, language policy, multilingualism, code-switching.