Regional language

"Local language" redirects here. For the concept in formal language theory, seeLocal language (formal language).

Not to be confused withNational languageorNation language.

Aregional languageis alanguagespoken in a region of asovereign state,whether it be a small area, afederated stateorprovinceor some wider area.

Internationally, for the purposes of theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages,"regional or minority languages"means languages that are:

1. traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State's population and
2. different from the official language(s) of that State

Recognition of regional or minority languages must not be confused with recognition as anofficial language.

Relationship with official languages

In some cases, a regional language may be closely related to the state's main language orofficial language.For example:

• TheFrisian languagesspoken in the Netherlands and Germany, which belong to theGermanicfamily.
• TheGutnish language,a regional language spoken inGotlandand related to the Swedish language.
• KurdishinKurdistan,which is an autonomous region in northernIraq,NorthwesternIranand southeasternTurkey.
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaicin northern Iraq, northeasternSyria,southeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran.
• The several hundredSinitic languagesare nearly always replaced byStandard Chinese(based on theBeijing dialect) in writing.
  • Wu,inShanghai,southernJiangsu,Zhe gian gand easternJiangxi.
  • Yue Chinese,inGuangdong,parts ofGuangxi,Hainan,Hong KongandMacau,Cantoneseis the regional standard variety for Yue-speaking areas
  • Hakka,in parts ofGuangdong,Jiangxi,Fu gian,andTaiwan
  • Min,inFu gian,Taiwan,easternGuangdongandHainan.
  • Xiang,inHunan.
  • Gan,inJiangxi.
• Kashubian,a regional language ofPoland,has a bit under 90 thousand speakers, and is a language of theLechiticbranch, alongsidePolishandSilesian.
• Limburgish,a regional language inGermany,theNetherlandsand Belgium, has around one million speakers and is closely related toLuxembourgish,KleverlandishandRipuarian.
• Low German(also referred to as Low Saxon), an officially recognized regional language in Germany and the Netherlands, the direct descendant ofOld Saxon.Sometimes (e.g. by nds and nds-nl Wikipedia) considered two languages divided by today’s Netherlands–German border on account of Dutch influences in the west and German influences in the east; closely related toFrisian,more distantly toGerman.
• Scots,a regional language ofScotlandandNorthern Ireland(both part of theUnited Kingdom,and where it is known asUlster Scotsin the latter location), belongs to the same family ofWest Germanic languagesasEnglish.
• Neapolitan,SicilianandVenetian,regional languages spoken inItalywhich also belong to the same family of standard Italian (Italo-Dalmatian).
• Regional languages ofSpainandPortugal:
  • Aranese,Catalan,andGalicianare each, in the regions where they are the autochthonous language, co-official in status withCastilian(Spanish) which is official everywhere in theKingdom of Spain.
  • AsturianandLeoneseare recognized (but unofficial) inAsturiasandCastile and León(Spain), whileMirandeseis co-official with Portuguese inMiranda do Douro(Portugal). These Romance languages are classified under the termAstur-Leonese languages.Astur-Leoneseis closely related to bothCastilianandGalician,which itself is most closely related toPortuguese.Catalanis anOccitano-Romance language.
  • Occitan,most widely spoken across the Pyrenees in France and Catalonia, together with Catalan, forms a subgroup of Romance languages linguistically intermediate betweenFrenchand theIbero-Romance languagesof Spain and Portugal.Araneseis a subdialect ofGascon
• Tibetic languages
  • Amdo tibetan languagehave regional official status inamdoorQinghai.
  • Standard Tibetanis currently based onLhasa Tibetan.
• VõroandSeto,regional languages ofEstonia,are either dialects ofEstonianor separateFinnic languagesas Estonian.
• Walloon,a regional language of France andBelgium,belongs to the same family ofOïl languagesasFrench.
• Hindiand English are theofficial languagesofIndia'sCentral Government.
  • The officially declaredregional languages of Indiaare:Assamese,Bengali,Bhojpuri,Bodo,Dogri,Gujarati,Kannada,Kashmiri,Konkani,Maithili,Malayalam,Manipuri,Marathi,Nepali,Odia,Punjabi,Sanskrit,Santali,Sindhi,Tamil,Telugu,Tulu,andUrdu.
• Sylheti,a regional language of theSylhet DivisionofBangladeshand theBarak ValleyofAssam,India, is often considered a dialect of Bengali but is also sometimes seen as a separate language.
• Chittagonian,a regional language of parts of theChittagong DivisionofBangladesh,is often considered a dialect of Bengali but is also sometimes seen as a separate language.

In other cases, a regional language may be very different from the state's main language or official language. For example:

• Basque,a regional language spoken inSpainandFrance(Basque Country).
• Breton,a regional Celtic language spoken inFrance(Brittany).
• Cherokeeis anIroquoianlanguage, and one of the manyNative American languagesspoken in theU.S.State ofOklahoma.
• Cornish,a regional Celtic language in theUnited Kingdom(Cornwall).
• Corsican,a regional language inFrance(Corsica) closely related toTuscan-derivedItalian.
• Gagauz,a regionalTurkic languagespoken inMoldova.
• Livonian,a regional language of theFinnic familyspoken inLatvia.
• Resian,a dialect ofSlovenespoken inItaly(Resia valley).
• Sardinian,a regionalRomance languagespoken inItaly(Sardinia).
• Scottish Gaelic,a regionalCeltic languagespoken in theUnited Kingdom(Scotland).
• Sorbian,a regionalSlaviclanguage ofGermany.
• Welsh,a regionalCelticlanguage spoken in theUnited Kingdom(Wales).

Official languages as regional languages

An official language of a country may also be spoken as a regional language in a region of a neighbouring country. For example:

• Afrikaans,an official language ofSouth Africa,is a regional language ofNamibia.
• Arabic,official inZanzibar,a region ofTanzania.
• Bengaliis the official language of Bangladesh, and is the regional language ofWest Bengalin India.
• Cantonese,one of the official standard varieties inHong KongandMacau(bothspecial administrative regionsof thePeople's Republic of China), is used as a regional language of the province ofGuangdong,People's Republic of China.
• Catalan,the official language ofAndorra,is a regional language inSpain(Catalonia,Balearic IslandsandValencian Community),France(Pyrénées Orientales) andItaly(Alghero,Sardinia).
• German,an official language ofAustria,Belgium,Germany,Liechtenstein,LuxembourgandSwitzerland,is a regional language inItaly(South Tyrol),Poland(Silesia),France(AlsaceandLorraine),Denmark(Southern) andNamibia.
• Hakka,one of the national languages ofTaiwan,is spoken as a regional language in the provinces ofGuangdong,JiangxiandFu gian,People's Republic of China.
• Hokkien,one of the national languages ofTaiwan,is spoken as a regional language in the provinces ofFu gian,Zhe gian gandGuangdong,People’s Republic of China.
• Hungarian,aUralic languageand official inHungary,is a regional language ofRomania(Northern Transylvania).
• Irish,the first official language of theRepublic of Ireland,is a regional language inNorthern Ireland,part of theUnited Kingdom.
• Japanese,one of the national language inJapan,is a regional language inPalau(Angaur Island).
• Korean,the official language ofKorea,is a regional language inPeople's Republic of China(Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture).
• Malay,the official language ofMalaysia,BruneiandSingapore,is a regional language inIndonesia(Riau Province).
• Russian,the official language of theRussian FederationandBelarus,is a regional language ofAbkhazia,South Ossetiaand other entities.
• Tamil,the official language ofSingaporeandSri Lanka,is a regional language in India (Tamil Nadu)
• Tigrinya,an official language ofEritrea,is a regional language inEthiopia(Tigray Region).
• Turkish,the official language ofTurkeyandNorthern Cyprus,is a regional language ofKosovo.

See also

• Minority language
• National language
• Languages of the European Union
• Languages of France
• Languages of Italy
• Languages of Spain
• Languages of the United Kingdom
• British–Irish Council

External links

• Regional language accessibility web tool