Homeland gives a person a stable feeling of a calm, loving home. And people most often call their relatives the language in which they speak with their loved ones.
There is no clear concept of "native language" in modern sociolinguistics and ethnology. There are several different, sometimes opposite interpretations of this term. And the very study of the meaning inherent in the concept of "native language" has long become interdisciplinary.
The disputes between scientists-linguists are rather theoretical in nature, because in practice, more precisely, in life, everything is just extremely clear. Most people consider their native language to be the one spoken by their parents.
The closest to a person is the mother tongue. The one that the baby absorbs with breast milk. On which for the first time he utters the two most important words: "mom" and "dad". Scientists call it a language learned in childhood without special training. Or the first native language.
Then the child goes to school and begins to acquire knowledge. Teachers, as a rule, speak and teach lessons in the state language of the country where the person lives. All textbooks and teaching aids are written on it.
This language is common for students and adults around the child. It is spoken by statesmen and documents are published. In this language, his name and surname are entered into the passport upon reaching the age of majority.
Most of the time, a person begins to speak in this particular language, even if they speak another at home. Scientists call it the second native to humans. Cases are described when the first native language in life is changed to the one that is most often used by people.
The second opinion boils down to the fact that the native language for the majority is the language in which they think. They also write and speak effortlessly. It is the main language for communication and activities in society. Scientists call it functionally the first language, that is, the language with which a person adapts to the society around him.
People can functionally know the first language even better than the first native language, but at the same time be more attached to the one in which they learned to speak.
The third interpretation of the term "native language" is the statement that a person's native language will be the language of his ancestors. The language that identifies him as belonging to a particular ethnic group, nationality.
The differences between the terms of linguists are very conditional, while for an ordinary person, the native language will always be the one that he himself loves most. People's habits change over time and circumstances, but preferences tend to stay the same.
