Territorial language

As a territorial language in which it is sociolinguistics a language called that for a legally defined territory within a state by law the status of a (optional) official language has been assigned.

Demarcation

A territorial language differs from a national language in that it is not an official language in the entire national territory. In addition, their function as a symbol of historical identity is usually limited to their area of ​​application.

The main difference to a regionally anchored minority language or a regional language is that the territorial language is recognized as an official language. This guarantees that it can be used vis-à-vis the public administration and that the administration must use it vis-à-vis the citizens if requested.

A regionally anchored minority language with a uniform (codified) written language can be assigned the status of a territorial language.

Examples

Individual Sami languages are recognized as territorial languages in several northern municipalities in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The municipality of Inari in Finland offers an interesting special case : three Sami languages ​​have the status of a territorial language there.

literature

• Norbert Dittmar : Basics of Sociolinguistics. A workbook with tasks. De Gruyter, 1997, ISBN 978-3-484-22057-7 , especially chapter 3.7, p. 152 ff.