What is your mother tongue?

[Shantanu Upadhyay]

A first language (also native language, mother tongue, arterial language, or L1) is the language or are the languages a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity[citation needed]. In some countries, the terms native language or mother tongue refer to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language. Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be bilingual.

@sumitroy bro, please leave the poll as is.

But as long as I remember the criteria that was set for collecting data of mother tongue in census 2011 was- mother tongue will be the language spoken by the Mother from birth(native language) even if the child cant speak the same.

A first language can't always be the native language for example a Japanese born in USA may not learn Japanese as it's first language (may learn English) but this thing will not change his native place (his native place will always going to rename Japan)
So, same will apply for language.

 

[Siva]

But as long as I remember the criteria that was set for collecting data of mother tongue in census 2011 was- mother tongue will be the language spoken by the Mother from birth(native language) even if the child cant speak the same.

A first language can't always be the native language for example a Japanese born in USA may not learn Japanese as it's first language (may learn English) but this thing will not change his native place (his native place will always going to rename Japan)
So, same will apply for language.

Yeah, Mother can speak multiple languages in which case child can have multiple native languages. So, I think it's feasible to have two or more languages as Mother toungue!

 

[Endgame]

One of my neighbour is born to a Tamil father & Odia mother but she can't understand either of these. Her communication language since childhood within family is Hindi. What's her mother tongue? Hindi or Odia?

 

[Siva]

One of my neighbour is born to a Tamil father & Odia mother but she can't understand either of these. Her communication language since childhood within family is Hindi. What's her mother tongue? Hindi or Odia?

If Mother had spoken with your neighbor only in Hindi since birth, it's Hindi!

 

[Endgame]

Yeah, Mother can speak multiple languages in which case child can have multiple native languages. So, I think it's feasible to have two or more languages as Mother toungue!

It's not about how many languages you or your mother can speak.
It's about your ethnicity (applicable for mutes also).

 

[Shantanu Upadhyay]

One of my neighbour is born to a Tamil father & Odia mother but she can't understand either of these. Her communication language since childhood within family is Hindi. What's her mother tongue? Hindi or Odia?

Odia.

 

[Endgame]

If Mother had spoken with your neighbor only in Hindi since birth, it's Hindi!

It's not that simple.
Father: Tamil
Mother: Odia
Speaking Language (s) since childhood: Hindi & Bengali
Working at: Mumbai (Marathi)
Married to: Gujarati
Knows English, Hindi, Bengali.
@Shantanu Upadhyay bro, can't be Odia. If I don't know a language, it can't be my mother tongue. It's not Mother's tongue (the language my mother speak), but the language in which I speak with my mother.

 

[Siva]

It's not that simple.
Father: Tamil
Mother: Odia
Speaking Language (s) since childhood: Hindi & Bengali
Working at: Mumbai (Marathi)
Married to: Gujarati
Knows English, Hindi, Bengali.
@Shantanu Upadhyay bro, can't be Odia. If I don't know a language, it can't be my mother tongue. It's not Mother's tongue (the language my mother speak), but the language in which I speak with my mother.

It becomes both these in that case, which is why multiple options are fine.

 

[Shantanu Upadhyay]

@Shantanu Upadhyay bro, can't be Odia. If I don't know a language, it can't be my mother tongue. It's not Mother's tongue (the language my mother speak), but the language in which I speak with my mother.

Just confirmed from one who collected census data in 2011 (including mother tongue data)
A mother tongue is the language that a child learns from its mother, it doesn't matter when he learnt it (as 1st language or second language or 3rd)

 

[Sai Jai]

One of my neighbour is born to a Tamil father & Odia mother but she can't understand either of these. Her communication language since childhood within family is Hindi. What's her mother tongue? Hindi or Odia?

Officially it's Tamil(Father Language)
Unofficially Hindi(Language he/she speaking)