noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
dī'glŏʹsē.ə
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌdaɪˈɡlɒsi.ə/
General-American:/ˌdaɪˈɡlɑsi.ə/
1
noun
Meaning 1
The coexistence in a given population of two closely related native languages or dialects, one of which is regarded as more prestigious than the other; the similar coexistence of two unrelated languages.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
2000, Joshua A. Fishman, Chapter 3: Bilingualism with and without diglossia; diglossia with and without bilingualism, Li Wei (editor), The Bilingualism Reader, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 81, It is the purpose of this chapter to relate these two research traditions to each other by tracing the interaction between their two major constructs: bilingualism (on the part of psychologists) and diglossia (on the part of sociologists).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The presence of a cleft or doubled tongue.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bifid tongue, cleft tongue
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Latin diglōssia. In linguistics introduced 1959 by Charles A. Ferguson, based on French diglossie, from Ancient Greek δίγλωσσος (díglōssos, “bilingual”) + -ία (-ía). Equivalent to di- + -glossia.
Across languages
Translations
22 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
اِزْدِوَاجِيَّة لُغَوِيَّة
(izdiwājiyya luḡawiyya)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Arabic:
دِيجْلُوسْيَا
(diglūsyā)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Catalan:
diglòssia
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Chinese Mandarin:
雙層語言 /双层语言
(shuāngcéng yǔyán)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Chinese Mandarin:
文白分離 /文白分离
(wénbáifēnlí)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Chinese Mandarin:
双言
(shuāngyán)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Finnish:
diglossia
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
French:
diglossie
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
German:
Diglossie
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Greek:
διγλωσσία
(diglossía)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Hebrew:
דיגלוסיה
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Hungarian:
diglosszia
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Irish:
débhéascna
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Italian:
diglossia
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Japanese:
ダイグロシア
(daiguroshia)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Japanese:
二言語変種使い分け
(nigengohenshu tsukaiwake)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Korean:
양층언어
(yangcheung'eoneo)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Norwegian:
diglossi
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Portuguese:
diglossia
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Russian:
дигло́ссия
(diglóssija)
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Spanish:
diglosia
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
Swedish:
diglossi
— the coexistence of two closely related native languages
