Meaning & use
intralingual
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Happening within one language, without involving translation from another language.
Grammar: Used before a noun: intralingual translation, intralingual errors.
Patterns
- intralingual translation
- intralingual errors
- intralingual communication
Rewriting a legal text in plain English is a kind of intralingual translation.
The learner's mistakes were intralingual, caused by confusion inside English itself.
Intralingual communication works well when everyone shares the same first language.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Relating to features or processes that operate inside a single language system.
Grammar: Often contrasts with interlingual, which involves two or more languages.
Patterns
- intralingual factors
- intralingual interference
The study focused on intralingual factors in second-language writing.
Intralingual interference can happen when a rule in the same language is overused.
Common combinations
- intralingual translation
- Simplifying a scientific article for children is intralingual translation.
- intralingual errors
- Many intralingual errors come from overgeneralizing grammar rules.
- intralingual communication
- Intralingual communication is easier when both speakers share the same dialect.
- intralingual factors
- The researchers examined intralingual factors such as spelling regularity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- within-language
- A plain alternative used in general writing; it is less technical than intralingual.
Opposites
Word family
- interlingual adjective
- Involving two or more languages, the opposite of intralingual.
Commonly confused: intralingual or interlingual?
intralingual vs interlingual
Interlingual involves translation or transfer between languages, while intralingual stays inside one language. Remember intra- means within.
Practice
Which situation is an example of intralingual translation?
Choose one answer.
Intralingual means within one language, so rewriting English into simpler English fits. The other options all involve moving between different languages, which is interlingual translation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intralingual”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.