Official language

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Official language

An official language is a language

Language

A language is a form of symbol communication in which elements are combined to represents something other than themselves. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon....
that is given a special legal status in a particular country

Country

Country may refer to the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region. In another meaning of the word, the country is also a term used to refer to rural areas....
, state

State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
, or other territory. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a language (often indigenous

Indigenous

Indigenous may refer to:*Indigenous peoples, population groups with ancestral connections to place prior to formally recorded history**Indigenous intellectual property, a legal term identifying the right to claim knowledge within their culture...
) a legal status, even if that language is not widely spoken. For example, in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
the Maori language

Maori language

Maori or te reo Maori, also commonly shortened to te reo , functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tuamotuan language and Tahitian language; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian language and Marquesan language; a...
has official status under the Maori Language Act

Maori Language Act

The Maori Language Act 1987 was a piece of legislation passed by the New Zealand Parliament. It gave Te Reo Maori official language status, and gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as in court....
even though it is spoken by less than five percent of the New Zealand population.

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Encyclopedia

An official language is a language

Language

Country

State

Indigenous

New Zealand

Maori language

Maori Language Act

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
and the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
may also have official languages.

Legality

True official languages are those designated as such by a regulation or law, such as the Maori Language Act or the Welsh Language Act 1967

Welsh Language Act 1967

The Welsh Language Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , which gave some rights to use the Welsh language in legal proceedings in Wales and gave the relevant Minister the right to authorise the production of a Welsh version of any documents required or allowed by the Act....
. However many languages are considered to be de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
official languages, 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

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. 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

National language

A national language is a language which has some connection - de facto or de jure - with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy....
, although the national language may be official if given legal recognition by the government.

The practical effects of a language's 'official' designation vary, and often depend on how widely the language is spoken. In some cases only the official language(s) may be used in court, the education system or other settings, whereas in other cases official status merely allows for that language to be used. For example, the Maori Language Act allows Maori to be used in legal settings, but the vast majority of New Zealand legal proceedings are still carried out in English despite English having only de facto official status. In other countries in which the official language is more generally but not universally spoken, such as the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
and Wales

Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, state publications and signage must be available in the official language as well as the dominant language. Official language status usually increases the likelihood that a language will be widely taught in schools, and in many cases (for example Ireland) the official language is a compulsory subject.

Politics

Official language status is often connected with wider political issues of sovereignty

Sovereignty

File:Leviathan gr.jpgSovereignty is the exclusive right to control a government, a State, a people, or oneself. A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority....
, cultural nationalism, and the rights of indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples

File:Kaiapos.jpegThe term indigenous peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside immigrants which have populated the region and which are greater in number....
and ethnic minorities. For example, the campaign

English-only movement

English-only movement, called also Official English movement by its supporters, refers to a political movement for the use only of the English language in official government operations through the establishing of English as the only official language in the United States....
to make English the de jure

De jure

De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".The terms de jure and de facto are used instead of "in principle" and "in practice", respectively, when one is describing politics or legal situations....
official language of the United States is often seen as a way of marginalizing non English-speaking minorities, particularly Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic and Latino Americans are United States of origins in Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain. The group encompasses distinct sub-groups by national origin and race, and there is much diversity of race and ancestry within national origin groups as well....
, whereas in the Republic of Ireland the decision to make the Irish language

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
an official language was part of a wider program of cultural revitalization and Gaelic nationalism

Irish nationalism

Irish nationalism comprises political and social movements and sentiment inspired by a love for Culture of Ireland, Gaelic language and History of Ireland, and a sense of pride in Ireland and the Irish people....
. Various indigenous rights movements have sought greater recognition of their languages, often through official language status.

Official language

Legality

Politics

See also