Language policy
Many countries have a
language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular
language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one
official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to protect and promote regional and ethnic languages whose viability is threatened.
The preservation of cultural and linguistic
diversity in today's world is a major concern to many scientists, artists, writers, politicians, and leaders of linguistic communities. Up to one half of the 6000 languages currently spoken in the world are estimated to be in danger of disappearing during the
21st century. Many factors affect the existence and usage of any given human language, including the size of the native speaking population, its use in formal communication, and the geographical dispersion and the socio-economic weight of its speakers. National language policies can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of some of these factors.
What follows below is one of many ways in which language policy laws can be categorized.
A policy of assimilation is one that uses measures to accelerate the downsizing of one or more linguistic minority group(s). The ultimate goal of such policies is to foster national unity inside a state.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Afghanistan -
Brazil -
Burma -
Cyprus -
East Timor -
Greece -
Indonesia -
Iran -
Iraq -
Kosovo (
Not a state; under United Nations protectorate and officially under sovereignty of Serbia) -
Pakistan -
Syria -
Thailand -
Turkey -
VietnamA policy of non-intervention consists in choosing to allow the normal rapport between the main linguistic group and the minorities evolve on its own. This almost invariably favours the dominant group. Sometimes, such policies are accompanied by administrative measures protecting certain minorities.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Angola -
Argentina -
Australia -
Austria -
Bangladesh -
Benin -
Burkina Faso -
Chile -
Congo-Kinshasa -
Côte d'Ivoire -
Cuba -
Czech Republic -
Dominica -
Dominican Republic -
Ecuador -
Gabon -
Ghana -
Germany -
Gibraltar -
Guinea -
Guyana -
Northern Ireland -
Jamaica -
Japan -
Liechtenstein -
Mali -
Nebraska -
Nicaragua -
Saint Kitts and Nevis -
Saint Lucia -
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines -
El Salvador -
San Marino -
Saudi Arabia -
Senegal -
United Kingdom -
Uruguay -
Venezuela -
VermontA policy that recognizes a different legal statute for a given language usually aims at allowing the coexistence of multiple linguistic groups inside a state. Typically, the majority has all its linguistic rights secured and sometimes promoted while the minority or minorities are given special protection for their language.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Albania -
Bosnia and Herzegovina -
Bulgaria -
California -
China -
Croatia -
Estonia -
European Council -
Macedonia -
Guatemala -
Latvia -
Lithuania -
Manitoba -
Ontario -
Netherlands -
New Mexico -
Paraguay -
Quebec -
Romania -
Slovakia -
Sweden -
Wales -
YukonA policy favouring the
official language is a policy of unilingualism. Sometimes, it favours the national language, sometime it favours a colonial language with a strong influence internationally. In some cases, such policies are accompanied by measures recognizing and protecting
minority languages.
Jurisdictions having such a policy:
Åland -
Albania -
Algeria -
Andorra -
Azerbaijan -
California -
Cambodia -
Colombia -
Cyprus -
Croatia -
Egypt -
Estonia -
France -
Greece -
India -
Iran -
Iceland -
Israel -
Italy -
Japan -
Kuwait -
Latvia -
Lebanon -
Lithuania -
Macedonia -
Madagascar -
Morocco -
Mexico -
Moldova -
Montenegro -
North Korea -
Nepal -
Peru -
Poland -
Romania -
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon -
Serbia and Montenegro -
Slovakia -
Somalia -
South Korea -
Spain -
Tunisia -
Ukraine -
Uzbekistan -
Vietnam -
VoivodinaA policy favouring the two official languages is a policy of
bilingualism. There are many different ways in which these policies can be applied.
Based on non-territorialized individual rights
A policy of bilingualism based on non-territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.
Belarus -
Burundi -
Canada -
Central African Republic -
Chad -
Djibouti -
Guam -
Hong Kong -
Ireland -
Kenya -
Kiribati -
Malta -
Nauru -
New Zealand -
Northwest Territories -
Norway -
Nunavut -
Rwanda -
Samoa -
South Africa -
Tanzania -
Tonga -
TuvaluBased on territorialized individual rights
A language policy based on territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community within a specific region.
Aosta Valley -
Balearic Islands -
Basque Country -
Brandenburg -
Brittany -
Catalonia -
Channel Islands -
Corsica -
Faroe -
Finland -
Friuli Venezia Giulia -
Galicia -
Hawaii -
Isle of Man -
Micronesia -
Navarre -
Northern Ireland -
Nicaragua -
Sardinia -
Scotland -
Sicily -
Sind -
Trentino-South Tyrol -
Valencia -
WalesBased on territorial rights
Belgium -
Cameroon -
Fribourg -
Grisons -
Switzerland -
Ticino -
ValaisBased on non-territorialized individual rights
A policy of multilingualism based on non-territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.
Singapore*
Bòrd na Gàidhlig*
Foras na Gaeilge*
List of language regulators*
Office québécois de la langue française*
Welsh Language Board*
Cultural hegemony*
Language Movement*
Language planning*
Language revival*
Linguicide*
Official script*
Regional language*Directions of language policies::*
Linguistic imperialism:*
Linguistic protectionism and
Linguistic purism:*
Linguistic separatism*Some case studies::*Europe:
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages::*Croatia:
Croatian linguistic purism::*Finland:
Finland's language strife::*France:
Language policy in France::*Germany:
Germanization::*Poland:
Polonization::*Spain:
Language politics in Francoist Spain::*Former Soviet Union:
Russification,
Ukrainianization::*United Kingdom:
Welsh Not:*Canada:
Bilingualism in Canada,
Official Language Act* Primary source of information: Leclerc, Jacques.
"Index par politiques linguistiques" in
L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Québec, TLFQ,
Université Laval, December 2003
[1] (in French).
