List of language regulators

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This is a list of bodies that regulate standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are motivated by, or closely associated with, linguistic purism, and typically publish prescriptive dictionaries,[1] which purport to officiate and prescribe the meaning of words and pronunciations. A language regulator may also be descriptive, however, while maintaining (but not imposing) a standard spelling.

Many world languages have one or more language academies. However, the degree of control that the academies exert over these languages does not render the latter controlled natural languages in the sense that the various kinds of "simple English" (e.g. Basic English, Simplified Technical English) or George Orwell's fictional Newspeak are. They instead remain natural languages to a considerable extent and are thus not formal languages such as Attempto Controlled English. They have a degree of standardization that allows them to function as standard languages (e.g. standard French).

Natural languages

Language Territory Regulator(s)
Afrikaans  South Africa Die Taalkommissie
Akan  Ghana Akan Orthography Committee (AOC)
Albanian  Albania
 Kosovo
Academy of Sciences of Albania, Tirana
Arabic  Algeria
 Egypt
 Iraq
 Jordan
 Morocco
 Somalia
 Sudan
 Syria
 Tunisia
 Israel
Academy of the Arabic Language (مجمع اللغة العربية) Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, Sudan
Israel
Arabic Language International Council
Aragonese  Aragon Academia de l'Aragonés, Aragon, Spain
Armenian  Armenia Armenian National Academy of Sciences (Հայաստան)
Assamese India Assam Asam Sahitya Sabha (অসম সাহিত্য সভা)
Asturian  Asturias Academy of the Asturian Language (Academia de la Llingua Asturiana)
Azerbaijani  Azerbaijan
 Iran
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Bengali (Bangla)  Bangladesh Bangla Academy (বাংলা একাডেমি)
India West Bengal Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বাংলা আকাদেমি)
Basque  Basque Country Euskaltzaindia, often translated as Royal Academy of the Basque language
Belarusian  Belarus The Jakub Kolas and Janka Kupala Institute of Language and Literature[2] at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Bosnian  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sandžak
University of Sarajevo
Berber or Tamazight  Morocco Royal Institute of Amazight Culture (IRCAM)
 Algeria HCA
Bulgarian  Bulgaria Institute for Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Burmese  Myanmar Myanmar Language Commission
Cantonese  Hong Kong
 Macau
Official Language Division
Civil Service Bureau
Government of Hong Kong
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
Cherokee  Cherokee Nation Council of the Cherokee Nation (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ)
Mandarin Chinese  People's Republic of China State Language Work 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 Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics (Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje)
Czech  Czech Republic Institute of the Czech Language (of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) (Ústav pro jazyk český (Akademie věd České republiky))
Danish  Denmark Dansk Sprognævn (Danish Language Council)
Dalecarlian Sweden Dalarna County Ulum Dalska
Dari  Afghanistan Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
Divehi  Maldives Dhivehi Academy
Dutch  Netherlands
 Belgium
 Suriname
Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union)
Dzongkha  Bhutan Dzongkha Development Commission
Estonian  Estonia Emakeele Seltsi keeletoimkond (Language Board at the Mother Tongue Society) sets rules and standards, authoritative advice is given by the Institute of the Estonian Language (Eesti Keele Instituut)
Faroese  Faroe Islands Faroese Language Council (Málráðið)
Filipino  Philippines Commission on the Filipino Language
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)
Galician  Galicia Royal Galician Academy (Real Academia Galega)
German  Germany
 Austria
  Switzerland
 South Tyrol
 Belgium
 Liechtenstein
 Luxembourg
Council for German Orthography (Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung)
Greenlandic  Greenland The Greenland Language Secretariat (Oqaasileriffik)
Greek  Greece
 Cyprus
Center for the Greek language (Κέντρον Ελληνικής Γλώσσας)
Haitian Creole  Haiti Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole Academy)
Hebrew  Israel Academy of the Hebrew Language (האקדמיה ללשון העברית)
Hindi  India Central Hindi Directorate (regulates use of Devanagari script and Hindi spelling in India)
Hmar  India Hmar Literature Society (Manipur, India)[citation needed]
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 Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa
Irish  Ireland
 Northern Ireland
Foras na Gaeilge
Italian  Italy
 San Marino
  Switzerland
  Vatican City
Accademia della Crusca (Academy of the bran)
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 India Karnataka Various academies and Government of Karnataka
Kashubian  Poland Commission of the Kashubian Language [1][dead link]
Kazakh  Kazakhstan Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan
Korean  South Korea National Institute of the Korean Language (국립국어원)
Kven  Norway Kainun institutti – kvensk institutt
Kyrgyz  Kyrgyzstan National Committee for State Language under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (Кыргыз Республикасынын Президентине караштуу Мамлекеттик тил боюнча улуттук комиссия)
Latin  Holy See Pontifical Academy for Latin (Pontificia Academia Latinitatis) (Latin in the Roman Catholic Church)[3]
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)
Malayalam India Kerala Kerala Sahitya Akademi (കേരള സാഹിത്യ പരിശീലന സ്ഥാപനം) and Government of Kerala
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.[4]
Nepali    Nepal Language Academy of Nepal
Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk)  Norway Norwegian Language Council
Occitan  France
 Spain
 Monaco
 Italy
Lo Congrès Permanent de la lenga occitana (the permanent congress of occitan language) [2]
Pashto  Afghanistan
 Pakistan
Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
Pashto Academy
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  Portugal Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Classe de Letras
 Brazil Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Literary Academy)
Quechua  Peru High Academy of the Quechua Language (Qheswa simi hamut'ana kuraq suntur)
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.[5] Scottish Language Dictionaries record and analyse the language as it is spoken and written throughout Scotland and Ulster today.[6]
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 and Montenegrin  Serbia
 Montenegro
Board for Standardization of the Serbian Language
Sindhi  Pakistan Sindhi Language Authority [3]
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
Somali  Djibouti
 Ethiopia
 Somalia
Regional Somali Language Academy
Sorbian  Germany Serbski institut [4]
Spanish  Spain
 Colombia
 Ecuador
 Mexico
 El Salvador
 Venezuela
 Chile
 Peru
 Guatemala
 Costa Rica
 Philippines
 Panama
 Cuba
 Paraguay
 Bolivia
 Dominican Republic
 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
 Kenya Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa
Swedish  Sweden Swedish Language Council (semi-official)
Swedish Academy
 Finland Swedish Language Department of the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland (Svenska språkbyrån)
Tamil India Tamil Nadu
 Sri Lanka
Thanjavur Tamil University and Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu
Department of Official Languages, Sri Lanka.
Tatar  Tatarstan Institute of Language, Literature and Arts of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan
Telugu India 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 Society of Thailand (ราชบัณฑิตยสภา)
Turkish  Turkey
 Azerbaijan
 Iran
Turkish Language Association
Ukrainian  Ukraine National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Urdu  Pakistan
 India
National Language Authority, Pakistan
National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, India
Urhobo  Nigeria Urhobo Studies Association
Võro  Estonia Võro Institute
Waray-Waray  Philippines Sanghiran san Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte (Academy of the Visayan Language of Samar and Leyte) defunct
Welsh  Wales Welsh Language Commissioner (Meri Huws)
— The Welsh Government
(previously the Welsh Language Board Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg)(Principally, however, the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner is that of language planning and policy regulator and enforcer. The role also includes corpus planning.)
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 [5]
Yoruba  Nigeria 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 further developed by communities of users through natural language evolution. Bodies such as the Akademio de Esperanto look at questions of usage in the light of the original goals and principles of the language.

International auxiliary languages

Language Regulator(s)
Esperanto Akademio de Esperanto
Ido Uniono por la Linguo Internaciona Ido
Lojban Logical Language Group
Volapük Kadäm Volapüka

Other constructed languages

Language Regulator(s)
Klingon Marc Okrand
Talossan Comità per l'Útzil del Glheþ

See also

References

  1. Thomas, George (1991) Linguistic purism p.108, quotation: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

    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 such as Torquato Tasso. ... One of its first tasks -- as with so many academies to follow -- was to produce a large-scale prescriptive dictionary of Italian

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