National Languages and Language Planning

Paraguay is the only Latin American nation with a distinctive national language – Guarani. Although Spanish is used as the appropriate language to formal interaction and business, but the people are proud to use Paraguay to express the loyalty toward and use it when meet people overseas.

National and official languages
A national language is the language of political, cultural and social unit. It is generally developed and used as the symbol of national unity. Its functions are to identify the nation and unite the people of the nation. An official language is simply a language may be used for government business. Its function is primarily utilitarian rather than symbolic. It’s possible of course, for one language to serve both functions.

Official status and minority language
Many minorities would like to gain official status for their languages, but the cost is terms of providing services and information in all official language and considerable. Many recent of the special status providing services, information, and legal representation and in education in just two official languages is an expensive business. It seems unlikely other minorities will earn such right easily.

What price of a national language?
Many countries have regarded the development of a single national language as a way of symbolizing the unity of a nation. In Tanzania, it’s illustrated nicely when a country decides the development an indigenous language for use the national language. Linguists are often involved in this process of language planning.

Planning for a national official language features
Language Planning is defined most simply as deliberate language change. Language planners generally focus on specific language problems.

Form, functions and attitudes
There are four interrelated steps that involved in developing a code of variety:
· Selection: Choosing the variety or code to be developed
· Codification: standardizing its structural or linguistic features
· Elaboration: Extending its functions for use in new domain
· Securing its acceptance: The status of new variety is important, and people’s attitudes to the variety being developed must be considered.

The linguist’s role in language planninsg
Developing the vocabulary
Acceptance

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