"ghost language" meaning in All languages combined

See ghost language on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: ghost languages [plural]
Etymology: By analogy to ghost town. Head templates: {{en-noun}} ghost language (plural ghost languages)
  1. A language which has lost its speakers. Categories (topical): Linguistics Synonyms: dead language, extinct language
    Sense id: en-ghost_language-en-noun-X~crwIDu Disambiguation of Linguistics: 73 27 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 73 27 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 78 22 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 78 22
  2. A posited natural language which does not actually exist. Synonyms: spurious language
    Sense id: en-ghost_language-en-noun-ocv2N7IP

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "By analogy to ghost town.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ghost languages",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ghost language (plural ghost languages)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "73 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "73 27",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [
            "Language",
            "Social sciences",
            "Communication",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Juliette Blevins, Nhanda: An Aboriginal Language of Western Australia (Oceanic linguistics special publication; 30), Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page ix:",
          "text": "Of the 250 or so Aboriginal languages once spoken in Australia, two-thirds are extinct or moribund. Coastal languages were usually the first to go, with settlement patterns matching patterns of extinction. In Western Australia, the former of approximately 110 Aboriginal languages, 45 were presumed extinct, and another 30 were on the verge of extinction. Wajuk, the original language of Perth, was dead. Nyungar, the language of the southwestern tip of the continent, was gone. Mirning, the language of Eucla, had disappeared with barely a trace. Witjaari, once spoken north of Wajuk, was now a ghost language. And the list went on. I had come to a land of linguistic devastation.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A language which has lost its speakers."
      ],
      "id": "en-ghost_language-en-noun-X~crwIDu",
      "links": [
        [
          "language",
          "language"
        ],
        [
          "lost",
          "lose"
        ],
        [
          "speakers",
          "speakers"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dead language"
        },
        {
          "word": "extinct language"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A posited natural language which does not actually exist."
      ],
      "id": "en-ghost_language-en-noun-ocv2N7IP",
      "links": [
        [
          "posit",
          "posit"
        ],
        [
          "natural language",
          "natural language"
        ],
        [
          "exist",
          "exist"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "spurious language"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ghost language"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Linguistics"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "By analogy to ghost town.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ghost languages",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ghost language (plural ghost languages)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Juliette Blevins, Nhanda: An Aboriginal Language of Western Australia (Oceanic linguistics special publication; 30), Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page ix:",
          "text": "Of the 250 or so Aboriginal languages once spoken in Australia, two-thirds are extinct or moribund. Coastal languages were usually the first to go, with settlement patterns matching patterns of extinction. In Western Australia, the former of approximately 110 Aboriginal languages, 45 were presumed extinct, and another 30 were on the verge of extinction. Wajuk, the original language of Perth, was dead. Nyungar, the language of the southwestern tip of the continent, was gone. Mirning, the language of Eucla, had disappeared with barely a trace. Witjaari, once spoken north of Wajuk, was now a ghost language. And the list went on. I had come to a land of linguistic devastation.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A language which has lost its speakers."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "language",
          "language"
        ],
        [
          "lost",
          "lose"
        ],
        [
          "speakers",
          "speakers"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dead language"
        },
        {
          "word": "extinct language"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A posited natural language which does not actually exist."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "posit",
          "posit"
        ],
        [
          "natural language",
          "natural language"
        ],
        [
          "exist",
          "exist"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "spurious language"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ghost language"
}

Download raw JSONL data for ghost language meaning in All languages combined (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (05fdf6b and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.