National language

"National language" and "official language" are best understood as two concepts or legal categories with ranges of meaning that may coincide, or may be intentionally separate. Australia has no official language, but is largely monolingual with English being the de facto national language. In September 2012, La Union became the first province in Philippine history to pass an ordinance proclaiming a local language and a vernacular, Ilokano, as an official language. South Africa has 11 official languages, namely Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, siSwati, Setswana, Xitsonga, Thsivenda, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Many of the world's constitutions mention one or more official or national languages.

Many of these have their own regional languages.

For example, Catalan (a regional language of Spain, Italy and France, albeit the national language of Andorra) has more speakers than Finnish or Danish.

Further, they may enjoy recognition as a language used in compulsory schooling and treasury money may be spent to teach or encourage adults in learning a language which is a minority language in a particular area to restore its understanding and spread its moral stories, rhymes, poems, phrases, songs, and other literary heritage which will promote social cohesion (where other languages remain) or will promote nationalist differentiation where another, non-indigenous language is deprecated.

It further aims to build and maintain a single national identity—based on shared social characteristics such as culture, language, religion, politics, and belief in a shared singular history —and to promote national unity or solidarity.

In many African countries, some or all indigenous African languages are officially used, promoted, or expressly allowed to be promoted (usually taught in schools and written in important publications) as semi-official languages whether by long-term legislation or short-term, case-by-case executive (government) measures.

Although many mid-sized languages are used on the radio, in newspapers and in primary-school education, and some of the larger ones are considered national languages, only a few are official at the national level.

A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with people and the territory they occupy. Bengali, the sole official language of Bangladesh, is also the de facto national language of the country.

Several countries, including Australia, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, have a de facto national language but no official, de jure national language.

In many African countries, some or all indigenous African languages are officially used, promoted, or expressly allowed to be promoted (usually taught in schools and written in important publications) as semi-official languages whether by long-term legislation or short-term, case-by-case executive (government) measures.

Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages (but they can be; cf.

Bengali, the sole official language of Bangladesh, is also the de facto national language of the country. Hindi,Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Punjabi, Gujarati are majorly spoken by the native people.

The official and de facto national language of Bangladesh is Modern Standard Bengali (Literary Bengali).

Australia has no official language, but is largely monolingual with English being the de facto national language.

In a different context, "unilingualism" may refer to a language policy which enforces an official or national language over others.

Berber is also an official language.

In 2001, Berber became a constitutional national language of Algeria, and in 2011 Berber became a constitutionally official language of Morocco.

The Beijing dialect of Mandarin and Guangzhou dialect of Cantonese were each proposed as the basis for a national language for China.

In the early 20th century, a standard form based on the Beijing dialect, with elements from other Mandarin dialects, was adopted as the national language.

A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with people and the territory they occupy.

During the Risorgimento, proponents of Italian republicanism and Italian nationalism, like the Lombard Alessandro Manzoni, stressed the importance of establishing a uniform national language in order to better create an Italian national identity.

Andorra's national language is Catalan; moreover Catalan is an official language in several territories in Spain (Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands), and is spoken (without official recognition or status) in territories in Spain (the Catalan-Aragonese borderlands known as La Franja and the Murcian municipality of El Carche), France (Pyrénées Orientales) and in Italy (Alghero).

Hindi,Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Punjabi, Gujarati are majorly spoken by the native people.

Contrary to the popular belief, Hindi is not the national language of India because no language was given such a status in the Indian constitution.

States of India are free to adopt one or more local languages for official purposes of that state.

The Constitution of India does not give any language the status of national language.

Standard languages, such as Standard German, Standard French, and Standard Spanish, may serve as national (language-in-common), regional, and international languages.

It would later become the official language of all the Italian states, and after the Italian unification it became the national language of the Kingdom of Italy.

Luxembourg uses three official languages: Luxembourgish, French, and German.

Luxembourgish is the national language of Luxembourg and one of three administrative languages, alongside French and German.

The 1973 Philippine constitution hegemonically imposed Tagalog national language at the expense of all other ethnic nationalities in the country and mandated development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino. The 1987 constitution designated the Filipino language, which is based on Tagalog with the inclusion of terms from all recognized languages of the Philippines, as the national language.

Filipino (Wikang Filipino ) is the national language (Wikang pambansa / Pambansang wika) of the Philippines.

The 1973 Philippine constitution hegemonically imposed Tagalog national language at the expense of all other ethnic nationalities in the country and mandated development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino.

Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages alongside English.

In September 2012, La Union became the first province in Philippine history to pass an ordinance proclaiming a local language and a vernacular, Ilokano, as an official language.

The vernacular is contrasted with higher-prestige forms of language, such as national, literary, liturgical or scientific idiom, or a lingua franca, used to facilitate communication across a large area.

Among Namibia's national languages are German, Afrikaans, Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Portuguese, as well as the languages of the Himba, Nama, San, Kavango and Damara.

Khoekhoe is a national language in Namibia, where it is used for teaching up to the university level as well as in the public administration.

The National Language Authority is an organization established to make arrangements to promote Urdu since 1979.

The National Language Promotion Department (undefined, ), formerly known as the National Language Authority (or Urdu Language Authority), is an autonomous regulatory institution established in 1979 to support the advancement and promotion of Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan.

The 1987 constitution designated the Filipino language, which is based on Tagalog with the inclusion of terms from all recognized languages of the Philippines, as the national language.

The 1973 constitution declared the Pilipino language to be co-official, along with English, and mandated the development of a national language, to be known as Filipino.

There are 6 minority languages.

The official and national language of Slovenia is Slovene, which is spoken by a large majority of the population.

South Africa has 11 official languages, namely Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, siSwati, Setswana, Xitsonga, Thsivenda, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Sotho or Sesotho (also known as Southern Sotho or Southern Sesotho), is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho-Tswana (S.30) group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language, South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages and in Zimbabwe where it is one of 16 official languages.

During Japanese rule (1895 to 1945), the "national language movement" promoted the Japanese language.

Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language.