SILGLOBALGlossary of
Linguistic Terms

Glossary term I

Isolating Language

Also known as Analytic language

Definition

An isolating language is a language in which almost every word consists of a single morpheme.

Discussion

Isolating languages are especially common in Southeast Asia.

Examples

(Vietnamese)

 

khi tôi dên nhà ban tôi, chúng tôi bát dâu làm bài.

when I come house friend I Plural I begin do lesson

When I came to my friend's house, we began to do lessons.

See also

Polysynthetic Language

Sources 1

  1. Comrie 1989, 43
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