unilingual

Unilingual is an adjective used to describe a person or a community that uses, or is proficient in, only one language. In individual terms, a unilingual person speaks a single language and may have limited or no practical ability in other languages. In sociolinguistics, unilingual can also describe a region or country in which a single language predominates in public life and official functions.

The term is closely related to monolingual, though some writers prefer unilingual to emphasize the absence of additional languages in daily use rather than the absence of language skills. Unilingual situations often arise where a single language is taught in schools, used in government administration, media, and public services.

By contrast, multilingual or bilingual contexts involve two or more languages in education, government, and social interaction. The label unilingual may be applied to official language policy, describing a state with a single official language, though minority languages may still exist in private use.

Examples typically cited include Japan with Japanese as the official language and primary medium of instruction, and Portugal with Portuguese as the state language. The concept also applies to communities or workplaces where only one language is used.

Etymology: from Latin uni- “one” and lingual “language,” forming “unilingual” to denote one language. Related terms include monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual, as well as concepts in language policy and sociolinguistics.