List of language regulators

This is a list of bodies that regulate standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are usually motivated by linguistic purism, and typically publish prescriptive dictionaries,[1] which purport to officiate and prescribe the meaning of words and pronunciations.

Contents

Natural languages

Language Territory Regulator(s)
Afrikaans  South Africa Die Taalkommissie
Albanian  Albania Academy of Sciences of Albania, Tirana
Arabic  Algeria
 Syria
 Egypt
 Jordan
 Morocco
 Iraq
 Tunisia
 Sudan
 Israel
 Somalia
Academy of the Arabic Language (مجمع اللغة العربية) Algeria, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Iraq, Tunisia, Sudan, Israel
Aragonese  Aragon Academia de l'Aragonés,[2] Aragon, Spain
Armenian  Armenia Armenian National Academy of Sciences
Asturian  Asturias Academy of the Asturian Language (Academia de la Llingua Asturiana)
Azerbaijani  Azerbaijan Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Bengali / Bangla  Bangladesh Bangla Academy, Dhaka
West Bengal Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, Kolkata, West Bengal
Basque  Basque Country Euskaltzaindia, often translated as Royal Academy of the Basque language
Belarusian  Belarus Iнстытут мовы i лiтаратуры iмя Я. Коласа і Я. Купалы Institut movy i litaraturi imya Y. Kolasa i Y. Kupali Нацыянальнай Акадэміі навук Беларусі Natsiyanal’nay Akademii navuk BelarusiJ. Kolas and J. Kupala Institute of Language and Literature at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Berber or Tamazight  Morocco IRCAM
 Algeria HCA
Bulgarian  Bulgaria Institute for Bulgarian Language[3] at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Burmese  Myanmar Myanmar Language Commission
Catalan  Catalonia Institute of Catalan Studies (Institut d'Estudis Catalans)
 Valencian Community Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (for the Valencian standard)
Cebuano  Philippines Visayan Academy of Arts and Letters
Mandarin Chinese  People's Republic of China State Language and Letters Committee (国家语言文字工作委员会)
 Republic of China (Taiwan) National Languages Committee (國語推行委員會)
 Singapore Promote Mandarin Council (讲华语运动理事会)
 Malaysia Chinese Language Standardisation Council of Malaysia (马来西亚华语规范理事会)
Cornish  Cornwall Cornish Language Partnership (Keskowethyans an Taves Kernewek)
Croatian  Croatia Council for Standard Croatian Language Norm (Vijeće za normu hrvatskoga standardnog jezika)

attached to the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics (Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje) [3]

Czech  Czech Republic Czech Language Institute (Ústav pro jazyk český Akademie věd České republiky)
Danish  Denmark Dansk Sprognævn (Danish Language Board)
Dalecarlian Dalarna County Ulum Dalska
Dari  Afghanistan Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
Dutch  Netherlands
 Belgium
 Suriname
Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union)
Dzongkha  Bhutan Dzongkha Development Commission
Estonian  Estonia Language Board at the Mother Tongue Society [4] (Emakeele Seltsi keeletoimkond) sets rules and standards, authoritative advice is given by the Institute of the Estonian Language (Eesti Keele Instituut) [5]
Faroese  Faroe Islands Faroese Language Board (Føroyska málnevndin)
Filipino  Philippines Commission on the Filipino Language (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino) website
Finnish  Finland Research Institute for the Languages of Finland
French  France Académie française (French Academy)
 Quebec Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Office of the French Language)
Friulian  Friuli–Venezia Giulia Agjenzie Regjonâl pe Lenghe Furlane (Regional Agency for the Friulian Language) [6]
Galician  Galicia Royal Galician Academy (Real Academia Galega, official)
German  Germany
 Austria
 Switzerland
 South Tyrol
 Belgium
 Liechtenstein
Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung [7] (Council for German Orthogaphy)
Haitian Creole  Haiti Ministère de l'éducation nationale et de la formation professionnelle (Haitian department of education)
Hebrew  Israel The Academy of the Hebrew Language (האקדמיה ללשון העברית)
Hindi  India Central Hindi Directorate (regulates use of Devanagari script and Hindi spelling in India.[4])
Hmar  India Hmar Literature Society (Manipur, India)
Hungarian  Hungary Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Nyelvtudományi Intézete)
Icelandic  Iceland Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
Igbo  Nigeria Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture
Indonesian  Indonesia Pusat Bahasa (Language Center)
Irish  Ireland
 Northern Ireland
Foras na Gaeilge
Italian  Italy Accademia della Crusca
Japanese  Japan No official centralized regulation, but de facto regulations by Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁) at the Ministry of Education of Japan (文部科学省)
Kannada Karnataka Various academies and Government of Karnataka
Kashubian  Poland Radzëzna Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka (Commission of the Kashubian Language) [8]
Kazakh  Kazakhstan Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan [9]
Korean  South Korea The National Institute of the Korean Language [10] (국립국어원)
Kven  Norway Kainun institutti - kvensk institutt [11]
Ladino  Israel Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino (National Authority of Ladino) [12]
Latin  Holy See Latinitas Foundation (Opus Fundatum Latinitas) (Latin in the Roman Catholic Church)[5]
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy: botanical Latin)
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: zoological Latin)
Latvian  Latvia Latvian State Language Center (Valsts Valodas Centrs)
Lithuanian  Lithuania Commission of the Lithuanian Language (Valstybinė lietuvių kalbos komisija)
Lusoga  Uganda Lusoga Language Authority (LULA)
Macedonian  Macedonia Macedonian Language Institute "Krste Misirkov" ( Институт за македонски јазик „Крсте Мисирков“, Institut za makedonski jazik „Krste Misirkov“)
Malay  Malaysia
 Brunei
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (The Institute of Language and Literature)
Maltese  Malta National Council for the Maltese Language (www.kunsilltalmalti.gov.mt)
Manx  Isle of Man Coonceil ny Gaelgey
Māori  New Zealand Māori Language Commission
Mirandese  Portugal Anstituto de la Lhéngua Mirandesa (Institute of the Mirandese Language)
Mixtec  Mexico Academy of the Mixtec Language (Ve'e Tu'un Sávi)
Mongolian  Mongolia Council of the official state language (Төрийн хэлний зөвлөл). Decisions have to be confirmed by the Mongolian government. [13]
Nepali  Nepal Language Academy of Nepal
Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk)  Norway Norwegian Language Council
Occitan  France
 Spain
 Monaco
 Italy
Associacion de Prefiguracion de l'Entitat de Regulacion de la Lenga Occitana. [14]
Pashto  Afghanistan
 Pakistan
Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
Persian  Iran
 Tajikistan
 Afghanistan
 Uzbekistan
Academy of Persian Language and Literature (فرهنگستان زبان و ادب فارسی)
Polish  Poland Polish Language Council (Rada Języka Polskiego)
Portuguese  Brazil Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Literary Academy)
 Portugal Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Classe de Letras
Romanian  Romania Institutul de Lingvisticǎ al Academiei Române (Institute for Linguistics of the Romanian Academy)
 Moldova Academia de Ştiinţe a Moldovei
Russian  Russian Empire Russian Academy (1783–1841)
 Russia Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (since 1944)
Scots  Scotland The Scots language Centre supports the Scots language.[6] Scottish Language Dictionaries record and analyse the language as it is spoken and written throughout Scotland today.[7]
Scottish Gaelic  Scotland Bòrd na Gàidhlig maintains the national plan for Gaelic, to promote its use and make Gaelic culture accessible
Secwepemctsín  Canada Stk’wemiple7s re Secwepemctsin, are the group of people supported by the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society who develop new words.
Serbian  Serbia
 Montenegro
( B & H)
Board for Standardization of the Serbian Language
Sindhi  Pakistan Sindhi Language Authority [15]
Sinhala  Sri Lanka Hela Havula (හෙළ හවුල)
Slovak  Slovakia Ľudovít Štúr Institute of Linguistics (Jazykovedný ústav Ľudovíta Štúra) at Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovenská akadémia vied)
Slovene  Slovenia Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Sorbian  Germany Serbski institut [16]
Spanish  Spain
 Colombia
 Ecuador
 Mexico
 El Salvador
 Venezuela
 Chile
 Peru
 Guatemala
 Costa Rica
 Philippines
 Panama
 Cuba
 Paraguay
 Dominican Republic
 Bolivia
 Nicaragua
 Argentina
 Uruguay
 Honduras
 Puerto Rico
 United States
Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (constituted by the Real Academia Española plus 21 other separate national academies in the Spanish speaking world)
Swahili  Tanzania Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa
Swedish  Sweden Swedish Language Council (semi-official)
 Finland Swedish Language Department of the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland (Svenska språkbyrån)
Tamil Tamil Nadu Thanjavur Tamil University and Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu
Telugu Andhra Pradesh Telugu Academy and Official Language Commission of Government of Andhra Pradesh
Tetum  Timor-Leste National Institute of Linguistics at the National University of East Timor
Thai  Thailand Royal Institute of Thailand (ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน)
Turkish  Turkey Turkish Language Association
Ukrainian  Ukraine National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Ulster Scots  Northern Ireland
 Ireland
The Ulster-Scots Agency (Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch) promotes greater awareness of Ulster-Scots cultural issues and the use of Ullans, both within Northern Ireland and throughout the island. "Ullans" understood to be the variety of the Scots language traditionally found in parts of Northern Ireland and Donegal.[8]
Urdu  Pakistan
 India
National Language Authority, Pakistan
National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, India
Võro  Estonia Võro Institute
Waray-Waray  Philippines Sanghiran San Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte (Academy for Samar-Leyte Visayan) defunct
Welsh  Wales Welsh Language Board (Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg) [17]
West Frisian  Friesland Fryske Akademy (Frisian Academy)
Wolof  Senegal Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar (Center of Applied Linguistics of Dakar at the Cheikh Anta Diop University)
Yiddish  United States
 Sweden
 Russia
YIVO [18]
Yoruba  Nigeria The Yoruba Academy

Auxiliary languages

Interlingua

The auxiliary language Interlingua has no regulating body, as its vocabulary, grammar, and orthography are viewed as a product of ongoing social forces. In theory, Interlingua therefore evolves independent from any human regulator. Interlingua's vocabulary is verified and recorded by dynamically applying certain general principles to an existing set of natural languages and their etymologies.

Constructed languages

Languages such as Esperanto and Ido have been constructed (or planned) by a person or small group, before being adopted and developed by communities of users. Bodies such as the Akademio de Esperanto look at questions of usage in the light of the original goals and principles of the language.

Language Regulator(s)
Esperanto Akademio de Esperanto
Ido Uniono por la Linguo Internaciona Ido
Klingon Marc Okrand and Klingon Language Institute
Lojban Logical Language Group
Talossan Comità per l'Útzil del Glheþ

See also

References

  1. ^ Thomas, George (1991) Linguistic purism p.108, quotation:

    Whereas a number of the puristically motivated language societies have assumed de facto responsibility for language cultivation, the decisions of the academies have often had the force of law. ... Since academies are so closely associated with the notion of purism, a brief word on their history may not be out of place. The first academy to deal expressly and exclusively with language matters was the Accademia della Crusca, ... Its orientation was essentially conservative, favouring a return to the Tuscan language as cultivated in the fourteenth century over the innovations of contemporary renaissance poets like Torquato Tasso. ... One of its first tasks - as with so many academies to follow - was to produce a large-scale prescriptive dictionary of Italian

  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ Central Hindi Directorate: Introduction
  5. ^ "Latinitas Foundation" (in English). http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/latinitas/documents/index_en.htm. Retrieved 1 September 2011. 
  6. ^ Scots language Centre
  7. ^ Scottish Language Dictionaries
  8. ^ http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/99085903.htm The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (Schedule 1)