What is an isolating language?

Definition

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

Also known as:

Analytic language

Discussion
	Isolating languages are especially common in Southeast Asia.

Example (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.

Source:

Comrie 1989 43

Contrast
	The opposite of a highly isolating language is a highly polysynthetic language.

Concept module: isolating language
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): I
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004