national language
Sign in to savelanguage with de jure or de facto national status
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A national language is a language that has official status in a country either by law (de jure) or through widespread use and acceptance (de facto). It matters because it affects communication, education, law, and cultural identity within that nation.
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A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the territory of a country may be referred to informally or designated in legislation as national languages of the country. National languages are mentioned in over 150 world constitutions.
C.M.B. Brann, with particular reference to India, suggests that there are "four quite distinctive meanings" for national language in a polity: