Countries and speech
What Makes a Language Official in a Country
De jure versus de facto status, national versus official, and countries that name none at all.
A language is “official” in a country when its government declares it as such on parchment — not just the tongue most people actually speak in day-to-day life. Take Canada, one of the world’s bilingual states, as an example. On its constitution’s pages, French and English “are the official languages of Canada” and have “equality of status and equal rights and privileges” in the federal government, according to the Canadian government’s The Official Languages Act.
What makes a language effective in a country then? The short answer: official designation. A country’s constitution or statute gives a language legal status, which means it must be the language for official communication, documentation, and business. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an academic outfit, calls an official language “a language used by the government to conduct official, day-to-day business,” while a legal-definition source defines it as a language “mandatorily prescribed” for government institutions MTR Legal .
That’s what government designations do: they determine which language must be used by which institution, court, or official activity. And where the official language will be used is spelled out in great detail. An official language might be used in the federal government only, in both state and federal, or at the local level only. It might be used on all business, or only on certain official business. This means different official languages for different institutions, or even different official languages for different parts of the government (Federal vs. State).
Countries can name more than one
Most countries don’t, and never have, named just one official language, contrary to a well-known factual error. Canada, for one, has named two equal official languages and recognizes multiple official and auxiliary languages Government of Canada.
The Philippines names two official languages: Filipino and English Philippine Constitution. Still, it effectively names about 40 languages officially at some level: it names Filipino and English as official languages, and it names each of about 40 regional languages as an “auxiliary” official language in that region. Section 7.
Official is not the same as national
In other places, ‘official’ has meaning distinct from ‘national’. In the Philippines, the national language is Filipino, but the official languages are Filipino and English Philippine Constitution. And in India, Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the Union, but “ Constitution does not assign any language the status of ‘national language’,” according to secondary explanatory sources.
In fact, fewer than a third of states have a national language officially declared by their constitution. The facts show this, yet many generally assume this to mean that ‘Official language’ and ‘National language’ mean the same thing– and fail to check their facts.
Some countries define the office by constitution or statute
Most countries have enshrined their official language in a constitution or statute. India’s Official Languages Act is an example. And the US just announced that it would officially declare English as the official language of the United States The White House. The order states: “Accordingly, this order designates English as the official language of the United States.”
Constitutional designations can differ, though. Some constitutions identify the official language and government institutions must use it. Some include “the official language of” and identify the official language. Still others set up a statutory process for a government body to declare a language as official. This legal designation can vary from the language “used by the government to conduct official, day-to-day business” to a locally designated language, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
And most countries do have an official language, but some don’t. Also, nations may designate some languages official, but not others at all.
Why the label matters in practice
Though official language policies are legal formalities, they have real world consequences, which are primarily about communication. The practical impact of an official language designation is to define which language a government uses. An official language is the only or the most acceptable language used by the government, defined by the highest law of the land, whether a constitutional provision or statute. Other than a constitutional or statutory declaration, any claim of an official language is political, hence ineffective. The primary purpose of an official language is to define the language of business used by government—for its laws, records, and much more. And it entails the language in which its documents are written, words used in public communications, translations done by or for the government, and language used in government correspondence. Many argue significant implementation issues, particularly with national integration, when there is no official language. Related but broader questions of national integration and political identity are unrelated.
In either case, many experts believe expecting everyone to be able to speak an official language may be impractical. This forces government to support services and programs that would otherwise burden resources. And experts argue not everyone wants to know the official language. Many feel such programs undermine traditional ways of life. And in multicultural countries, they find using an official language discriminatory, whether or not they speak it, or simply prefer a different language. If there were no official language, more people would be able to access the government, as needed.
Still, many argue in favor of official language. Most of all, they argue knowing the official language is a civic obligation. Many more believe it helps serve immigrant communities. Others argue it helps achieve social equality, national integration, and easy governance. Still some argue knowing the official language is an obligation of citizenship, and doing away with it would promote social inequality and is a blow to national integration.
Where this sits in the Register
Written by the Linguasphere desk. Classification data referred to here comes from the Linguasphere Register — see sources and attribution.