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<div>Thanks to those who responded to my request last week about
multilingual national anthems: Jon Orman, Ablimit Baki, and Katherine
Mortimer.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Orman wrote that, "South Africa's national anthem is
regularly sung in at least three languages. The first verse is
normally Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika in Xhosa followed by the Afrikaans 'Die
Stem' and a third verse sung in English."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Baki wrote, "Chinese National Anthem,"March of the
Volunteers" are sung in Uyghur at Uyghur</div>
<div>mainstream schools while it is in Mandarin Chinese at Chinese
mainstream schools in Xinjiang, western China."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mortimer wrote that "Paraguay is officially declared in its
constitution a bilingual country (both Spanish and Guaraní as
national and official languages), and while the original of the
Paraguayan national anthem seems to be in Spanish it is also sung in
Guaraní in schools where I've done research in Paraguay."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I also posted this request on a national anthems site
forum:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> 1) from
countries where there's more than 1 official language, hence more than
1 version of the national anthem<br>
<br>
2) there are sizable language minorities that sing the national
anthem in their language, though the version in that language is not
official</font><br>
<font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> 3) where the
song itself is multilingual -- South Africa's anthem, for instance, is
commonly sung with the first verse in Xhosa, the second in Afrikaans,
and the third in English.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">It turns out that
getting certain answers to these is more difficult than you'd think,
but one poster, an amateur performer of 130+ national anthems,
provided the following (unofficial) list. While the list is far from
exhaustive, the geographic range is notable, as is the wide variance
in policies and practices surrounding national anthems.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">Michael
Erard</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">1) PARTIAL LIST
(INCOMPLETE): Nations with official versions of the national anthem in
more than one language:</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> <br>
Belgium (Flemish, French, German)<br>
Burundi (French, Kirundi)<br>
Canada (English, French)<br>
Comoros (French, Shikomoro [Shimasiwa])<br>
Fiji (English, Fijian)<br>
Finland (Finnish, Swedish)<br>
Kenya (English, Kiswahili)<br>
Malawi (Chichewa, English)<br>
Marshall Islands (English, Marshallese)<br>
Nauru (English, Nauruan)<br>
New Zealand (English, Maori)<br>
Palau (English, Palauan)<br>
Suriname (Dutch, Sranan Tongo) [but see below]<br>
Switzerland (French, German, Italian, Ladinish, Surselvish)<br>
Zambia (Bemba, English)<br>
Zimbabwe (English, Ndebele, Shona)<br>
<br>
Note: Even when official versions exist they actually may be
used only rarely, if at all.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1"
color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">2) PARTIAL LIST
(INCOMPLETE): Nations with national anthems often or sometimes sung in
another language:</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> <br>
Guatemala (Spanish official, Garifuna version exists)<br>
India (words are same in Hindi and Bengali, but pronunciation is
different and Bengali version is sometimes heard)<br>
Ireland (Irish Gaelic official, English version often sung and
is included on government-issued sheet music)<br>
Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz official, Russian version exists; unclear
whether Russian version has official status)<br>
Malta (Maltese official, unofficial English version exists but
apparently no longer used)<br>
Monaco (Monegasque official, French version exists)<br>
Philippines (Filipino official, English and Spanish versions
exist)<br>
Sri Lanka (Sinhalese official, Tamil version exists)<br>
Suriname (Dutch and Sranan Tongo official, Javanese version
exists)<br>
Tonga (Tongan official; English version exists, may have
official status; see below)<br>
Tuvalu (Tuvaluan official; English version exists, may have
official status; see below)</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>3) <font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> OFFICIAL
MULTILINGUAL VERSIONS:<br>
<br>
South Africa (Xhosa, Sesotho, Afrikaans, English)<br>
Suriname [some references indicate that the first verse is sung
in Dutch and the second in Sranan Tongo]<br>
[Tongan anthem is sometimes performed in Tongan and English]<br>
[Tuvaluan anthem is sometimes performed in Tuvaluan and
English]</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1"
color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">Note: In some
cases where the different language versions of the anthem are
distinct, the two versions are sometimes or often performed one right
after the other; for example: New Zealand. In other cases, performers
often use "unofficial" bilingual versions of the anthem; for
example: Canada.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1"
color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">UNOFFICIAL
MULTILINGUAL VERSION:</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1"
color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">Austria (six
languages; referenced in Reply #11 here:</font><font face="Verdana"
size="-1" color="#000099">
http://www.nationalanthems.us/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1079225785/0</font
><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">)</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1"
color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
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