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Official language
An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishment of an official language might also place restrictions on the use of other languages. Designated rights of an official language can be created in written form or by historic usage.
An official language is recognized by 178 countries, of which 101 recognize more than one.[citation needed] The government of Italy made Italian their official language in 1999, and some nations (such as Mexico and Australia) have never declared de jure official languages at the national level.[failed verification] Other nations have declared non-indigenous official languages.
Many of the world's constitutions mention one or more official or national languages. Some countries use the official language designation to empower indigenous groups by giving them access to the government in their native languages. In countries that do not formally designate an official language, a de facto national language usually evolves. English is the most common official or co-official language, with recognized status in 52 countries. Arabic, French, and Spanish are official or co-official languages in several countries.
An official language that is also an indigenous language is called endoglossic, one that is not indigenous is exoglossic. An instance is Nigeria, which has three endoglossic official languages. By this, the country aims to protect the indigenous languages although at the same time recognising the English language as its lingua franca. In spatial terms, indigenous (endoglossic) languages are mostly employed in the function of official languages in Eurasia, while mainly non-indigenous (exoglossic) rest of the world.
Around 500 BC, when Darius the Great annexed Mesopotamia to the Achaemenid Empire, he chose a form of the Aramaic language (the so-called Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic) as the vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. Aramaic script was widely employed from Egypt in the southwest to Bactria and Sogdiana in the northeast. Texts were dictated in the native dialects and written down in Aramaic, and then read out again in the native language at the places they were received.
Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, standardized the written language of China after unifying the country in 221 BC. Literary Chinese would remain the standard written language for the next 2000 years. Standardization of the spoken language received less political attention, and Mandarin developed on an ad hoc basis from the dialects of the various imperial capitals until being officially standardized in the early twentieth century.
The following languages are official (de jure or de facto) in two or more sovereign states. In some cases, a language may be defined as different languages in different countries. Examples are Hindi and Urdu, Malay and Indonesian, Serbian and Croatian, Persian and Tajik.
Some countries—like Australia and the United Kingdom—have no official language recognized as such at a national level. On the other extreme, Bolivia officially recognizes 37 languages, the most of any country in the world. Second to Bolivia is India with 22 official languages. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, Mali has 13, and South Africa is the country with the fifth lead with 12 official languages that all have equal status; Bolivia gives primacy to Spanish, and India gives primacy to English and Hindi .
Hub AI
Official language AI simulator
(@Official language_simulator)
Official language
An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishment of an official language might also place restrictions on the use of other languages. Designated rights of an official language can be created in written form or by historic usage.
An official language is recognized by 178 countries, of which 101 recognize more than one.[citation needed] The government of Italy made Italian their official language in 1999, and some nations (such as Mexico and Australia) have never declared de jure official languages at the national level.[failed verification] Other nations have declared non-indigenous official languages.
Many of the world's constitutions mention one or more official or national languages. Some countries use the official language designation to empower indigenous groups by giving them access to the government in their native languages. In countries that do not formally designate an official language, a de facto national language usually evolves. English is the most common official or co-official language, with recognized status in 52 countries. Arabic, French, and Spanish are official or co-official languages in several countries.
An official language that is also an indigenous language is called endoglossic, one that is not indigenous is exoglossic. An instance is Nigeria, which has three endoglossic official languages. By this, the country aims to protect the indigenous languages although at the same time recognising the English language as its lingua franca. In spatial terms, indigenous (endoglossic) languages are mostly employed in the function of official languages in Eurasia, while mainly non-indigenous (exoglossic) rest of the world.
Around 500 BC, when Darius the Great annexed Mesopotamia to the Achaemenid Empire, he chose a form of the Aramaic language (the so-called Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic) as the vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. Aramaic script was widely employed from Egypt in the southwest to Bactria and Sogdiana in the northeast. Texts were dictated in the native dialects and written down in Aramaic, and then read out again in the native language at the places they were received.
Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, standardized the written language of China after unifying the country in 221 BC. Literary Chinese would remain the standard written language for the next 2000 years. Standardization of the spoken language received less political attention, and Mandarin developed on an ad hoc basis from the dialects of the various imperial capitals until being officially standardized in the early twentieth century.
The following languages are official (de jure or de facto) in two or more sovereign states. In some cases, a language may be defined as different languages in different countries. Examples are Hindi and Urdu, Malay and Indonesian, Serbian and Croatian, Persian and Tajik.
Some countries—like Australia and the United Kingdom—have no official language recognized as such at a national level. On the other extreme, Bolivia officially recognizes 37 languages, the most of any country in the world. Second to Bolivia is India with 22 official languages. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, Mali has 13, and South Africa is the country with the fifth lead with 12 official languages that all have equal status; Bolivia gives primacy to Spanish, and India gives primacy to English and Hindi .