monolingual

Monolingual describes a person, community, or text that uses only one language. For an individual, a monolingual is someone who speaks, writes, and understands a single language well enough to function in everyday contexts; the term can also describe native speakers who have limited proficiency in other languages. For a society, monolingual refers to the dominant use of one language in public life, education, media, and government.

In linguistics, monolingualism is often contrasted with multilingualism, the ability to use more than one language. Monolingualism can arise from historical, geographic, or policy factors and does not inherently imply cognitive limitations. Multilingualism is common in border areas, immigrant communities, urban centers, and many professional settings, reflecting diverse language contact and use.

In lexicography and corpus linguistics, monolingual describes resources produced in a single language, such as monolingual dictionaries and monolingual corpora. This usage contrasts with bilingual or multilingual resources that involve cross-language data, translations, or cross-language comparisons.

Policies and educational debates often touch on monolingualism. Some regions promote a dominant national or official language in schooling and public life, which can raise concerns about minority language rights and cultural preservation. Many researchers highlight potential cognitive, cultural, and social benefits of multilingualism, while recognizing practical and pragmatic reasons for maintaining monolingual frameworks in certain contexts.