The soft, movable muscle in your mouth used for tasting, swallowing, and speaking; it can also mean a language.
It comes from Old English 'tunge', related to German 'Zunge' and Old Norse 'tunga'. These all trace back to a very old root meaning 'tongue' or 'speech'.
Many languages use the same word for 'tongue' and 'language', showing how tightly speech is tied to the body. When someone says 'mother tongue', they’re literally talking about the language of the mouth they grew up with.
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