The official state language is considered the visiting card of the state, because international treaties, as well as regulatory documents, are published on it. However, some countries with a multinational population do not establish a law on the priority of one language over another in order to avoid unrest among their inhabitants. One such prudent country is the United States.

What is a state language?

In the world there are practically no states in which the population of one nationality lives. As a rule, there are several of them. In some federations, the so-called national minorities exceed several dozen. Naturally, each nation, despite living within the borders of a single country, has its own language, as well as traditions. But the Constitution, as well as regulations are issued by the government for all citizens, which is why one language is chosen, which is recognized as the state language at the legislative level.

The priority of one language over another is determined by the number of people, as well as the prevailing ethnic culture. The right to use the language to citizens belonging to different nationalities is not infringed. They can communicate on it, study in educational schools, and even issue regulations within their territorial unit, which is important for some US states.

What is the difference between the state language and official?

Moreover, the state language and the official are not identical concepts. The state syllable acts as a symbol of the country in which it represents itself. The official language is intended for public administration. There is a third language category, namely regional, which implies the use of a certain dialect only within the region or state.

Which countries have several official languages?

In some countries with a multinational population, two official state languages ​​are established at the legislative level. In particular, these are Israel, where the population uses Hebrew and Arabic, in Canada, French and English, in Finland, Finnish and Swedish, in Iraq, Arabic and Kurdish. Three official languages ​​are officially approved in the UK, Belgium and Switzerland.

Why is there no official language in the USA?

America can be safely called the country of emigrants who, in search of a better life, went overseas. For example, the northern part of America was mastered by the French, which is why French prevails in modern Canada, while the descendants of the British people inhabit the United States, which determines the priority of the English language over others. However more than 300 nationalities currently reside in the USAdue to the difficult way of forming a country as a single state.

For example, Texas borders Mexico on a Spanish-speaking country, which is why in the state, the majority of the population is practically fluent, along with English, owns the speech of the conquistadors.At the same time, the US Congress still cannot give priority to English as the main language due to the fact that, according to the propaganda of democracy, each language has the same opportunities as its speakers.

In the United States, the vast majority of citizens speak English and only 13% of them are Hispanic. Such an advantage has repeatedly provoked some politicians to the proposal to grant English the status of the state language. However, all proposals were lobbied, arguing that such an approach violates individual freedom and is anti-democratic.

And, nevertheless, officially all laws, regulations, as well as international correspondence are carried out in English, which has earned its right in connection with the predominant population. Naturally, the specified language is used on radio, television and in the media. However, in some states the same newspaper editions are also formed in other languages ​​if a population of a different nationality dominates in the territory.

State language at state level

The United States has a rather complicated legislative system, which implies a two-stage design. On the one hand, the US Constitution is in force at the state level, which defines the facets of federal government, and on the other hand, each state has its own regulations governing the distribution of taxes and the arrangement of life in place in a single territorial unit.

At the same time, state authorities are empowered to resolve many issues, including the approval of the official language. So in 28 states a law on the state language has been adopted, which is English, or rather its assimilated version of the American. Moreover, in three states, linguistic status was given to several dialects at once, in direct proportion to the nationality of the population. For example, in Hawaii there are two languages: Hawaiian and English, and in Carolina also Caroline, as well as Chamorro.

When does the law take effect?

An individual state is under the control of the governor, as well as the legislative assembly, an analogue of Congress. All normative acts adopted by these bodies are published not only in English, but also in a dialect adopted as official. If the issue of language approval in the state is not defined, the laws enter into force after publication in the English version, due to the fact that on the basis of the amendment to the US Constitution English recognized nationwide.

What other countries do not have an official state language?

It is noteworthy that the United States of America is not the only country that has not officially fixed the status of the state language. So there is no, as such, the state symbol of the language in Australia, Luxembourg, Tuvalu. The absence of a linguistic definition in these countries due to the same reason as in the United States is due to respect for freedom of speech and national dignity of all peoples living in the federation.