National language? |
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A national language is a language (or language variant, i.e. dialect) which uniquely represents the national identity of a nation and/or country. Though distinct from an official language, which is used for political and legal discourse and so designated by a country's government, national languages are often also official languages simultaneously, even when possessing little or no government recognition. Although some countries claim to have more than one national language, the actual national language will be the language spoken by the majority of people from within that countries borders.
Official versus national languages
The national languages of stateless nations are often not official languages in any country. Some have no government recognition, while others may enjoy a high degree of official recognition. Some examples of national languages that are not official languages include Aromanian, Cherokee, and Navajo (and other living Native American languages). Certain languages may enjoy government recognition or even status as official languages in some countries while not in others.
Examples
A Celtic language Irish Gaelic is recognized as the national and also as one of the two official languages of Ireland, and is spoken by about a third of the population ( 1.5 million people).
A Filipino language which is based on Tagalog, is according to the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines recognized as an official language (English is also recognized). More than 170 languages are spoken in the Philippines and almost all of them belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian language group of the Austronesian language family.
In Singapore, the Malay language is the national and official language, although it is the first language of the Malays who make up only 12.4% of the total population of 4.24 million. Three other languages enjoy official status, including English, which is the language of business and governance and the medium of instruction in national schools, Mandarin, and Tamil.
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