This is a confusing topic, and I don't think there's a way to lock down a definition.<br>In India, e.g. Hindi is the "national" language, but not the only "official" one, since English is also co-official at the national level. Then there are the "official" languages of various states, a lot of them.<br>
<br>HS<br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 12:08 AM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dzo@bisharat.net" target="_blank">dzo@bisharat.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
I don't have access to Fishman's article at this time either, but hope it's okay to offer some impressions on use of the terms.<br>
<br>
As varied as the definitions of "offIcial language" may be (that subject has been a matter of discussion on this list), usage of "national language" seems even more varied and less exact.<br>
<br>
In addition to the definition mentioned by Dr. Mostari, "national language" may also be a category of language defined by law alongside "official language." This is the case in a number of African countries for example (notably in former French colonies). This usage has been omitted from some discussions of the term that I've seen.<br>
<br>
On the other hand, I have heard foreigners - again in Africa - refer to the official language as being the national language (meaning presumably that the former is intended to be used nationwide?). This sort of conflation of the two concepts seems to me to be fairly common.<br>
<br>
Returning to national language as a legal category in Africa, some countries so designate a few of the more widely spoken, while some others include all (indigenously spoken) languages of their population, which would indeed mean that some with very few speakers are considered "national languages."<br>
<br>
My understanding is that "national" in this context depends on how one means the term. Clearly "national" is not necessarily the same as nationwide. But it could mean that it is part of or belongs to the nation, even if in the case of many languages, only a minority of the population speaks it.<br>
<br>
Brann (1994) discusses the terminology in more detail, including 4 meanings of "national language," and relationship to other terms. Citation below; there is a summary of main points on the Wikipedia article on the subject. (Probably should be a summary of Fishman's article there too.)<br>
<br>
Brann, C.M.B. 1994. "The National Language Question: Concepts and Terminology." Logos [University of Namibia, Windhoek] Vol 14: 125–134<br>
<br>
HTH,<br>
<br>
Don Osborn<br>
<br>
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T<br>
<div class="im HOEnZb"><br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: mostari hind <<a href="mailto:hmostari@yahoo.com">hmostari@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Sender: lgpolicy-list-bounces+dzo=<a href="mailto:bisharat.net@groups.sas.upenn.edu">bisharat.net@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:50:40<br>
To: Language Policy List<<a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>
</div><div class="im HOEnZb">Reply-To: Language Policy List <<a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>
Subject: RE: [lg policy] national vs officila language<br>
<br>
</div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">_______________________________________________<br>
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list</a><br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>
University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------<br>
</div>