Official language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other territory. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration.[1] An official status can also be used to give a language (often indigenous) a legal status, sometimes that language is not always spoken. For instance, in New Zealand the Māori language has official status under the Māori Language Act, even though it is spoken by less than five percent of the New Zealand population. Non-national or supra-national organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union may also have official languages.
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[edit] Legality
True official languages are those designated as such by a regulation or law meaning that although a language may have no official status in a particular country, it is the most commonly used language in that country and the one usually used in official settings. One example of this is the English language in the United States. The US has no official language (although 30 US states do), but because English is used for most official matters and the most commonly spoken language, it can be considered the official language in practice if not in law.
An official language is not to be confused with a national language, although the national language may be official if given legal recognition by the government.[2]
[edit] Politics
Official language status is often connected with wider political issues of sovereignty, cultural nationalism, and the rights of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. For example, the campaign to make English the de jure official language of the United States is often seen as a way of marginalizing non English-speaking minorities, particularly Hispanic and Latino Americans, whereas in the Republic of Ireland the decision to make the Irish language an official language was part of a wider program of cultural revitalization and Gaelic nationalism. Various indigenous rights movements have sought greater recognition of their languages, often through official language status.
[edit] See also
- List of official languages (by language)
- List of official languages by state
- List of official languages by institution
- National language
- Working language
- A language is a dialect with an army and navy
[edit] References
- ^ "OFFICIAL LANGUAGE", Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, Ed. Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, 1998.
- ^ John Talbot Platt, Heidi Weber, Mian Lian Ho (1984) "The New Englishes", ISBN 071020194X
- Akira Nakanishi (1990) "Writing Systems of the World: Alphabets, Syllabaries, Pictograms", ISBN 0804816549 — the book lists official languages of the countries of the world, among other information, although it contains errors; e.g., it names English as the official language of the United States.
