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Jane, I think David's explantion in post 2 of this thread is the best.
Language= idioma
Tongue= lengua
But I'm not sure if it's a hard and fast rule. It certainly applies to all the examples I thought of before.
Apart from that, I have just remembered a Biblical reference:when the Holy Spirit visited the apostles 'divided tongues, as of fire' appeared to them and they 'began to speak with other tongues' .This doesn't fit the definitions above, but I guess it's because of the type of text and the fact that it is pretty old (archaic, would sound more elegant, I know).
BTW , the two quotations above come from an anniversary edition of an illustrated American Bible for children originally published in the 70s. The pictures and annotations were made by Sam Butcher ( a real life Reverend Camden). I'm telling you this, because I'm sure many of you on the other side of the pond are familiar with the Precious Moments pictures and other related paraphernalia.
Sosia, if you have a moment check out the Precious Moments illustrations and you'll see to what extent I can be pastelona. I do love them. No kidding.
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