A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area.

Internationally, for the purposes of the European 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[1]

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

Relationship with official languages

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

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

Official languages as regional languages

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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". Council of Europe. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Lekhitic languages | Slavic, Baltic & Germanic | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  3. ^ https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/EighthSchedule_19052017.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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