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{{Short description|Language spoken in parts but not all of a country}}{{EngvarB|date=January 2019}}
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A '''regional language''' is a [[language]] spoken in ana arearegion 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:''
#''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''
#''different from the official language(s) of that State''<ref name=COE-Charter>{{cite web|title=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm|website=Council of Europe|accessdateaccess-date=11 March 2015|archive-date=26 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226052008/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/HTML/148.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Recognition of regional or minority languages must not be confused with recognition as an [[official language]].
 
==Influence of number of speakers==
There are many cases when a regional language can claim greater numbers of speakers than certain languages which happen to be [[official language]]s of sovereign states. For example, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] (a regional language of [[Spain]], [[Italy]] and [[France]], albeit the [[national language]] of [[Andorra]]) has more speakers than [[Finnish language|Finnish]] or [[Danish language|Danish]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2018|reason=Catalan only has 4M L1 speakers}} A similar situation exists in China, where [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], spoken in southern [[Jiangsu]], northern, and the general area of [[Shanghai]] [[Zhejiang]] by more than 90 million speakers, is spoken natively by more speakers than [[French language|French]]; [[Yue Chinese]], a [[varieties of Chinese|Chinese regional variety]] spoken in [[Guangdong]], [[Hong Kong]] and nearby areas in [[China]] with more than 60 million local and overseas speakers (North America, parts of [[Malaysia]]), outnumbers [[Italian language|Italian]] in number of speakers.{{citation needed|date=September 2019|reason=claim appears to be false in terms of number of Italian speakers}} Dialects of the [[Min Chinese|Min]] dialect group have over 70 million speakers, mainly in [[Fujian]] and in nearby [[Taiwan]], but also in the [[Southeast Asian]] countries of [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]].
 
==Relationship with official languages==
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*The [[Frisian languages]] spoken in the Netherlands and Germany, which belong to the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] family.
*The [[Modern Gutnish|Gutnish language]], a regional language spoken in [[Gotland]] and related to the Swedish language.
*[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] in [[Kurdistan]], which is an autonomous region in northern [[Northern Iraq]], Northwestern [[Iran]] and southeastern [[Turkey]].▼
*[[Westrobothnian]] is another Swedish regional language native to historical [[Westrobothnia]].
*[[Suret language|Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]] in northern Iraq, northeastern [[Syria]], southeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran.▼
▲*[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] in [[Kurdistan]], which is an autonomous region in [[Northern Iraq]], Northwestern [[Iran]] and southeastern [[Turkey]].
▲*[[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]] in northern Iraq, northeastern [[Syria]], southeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran.
*The several hundred [[Sinitic languages]] are nearly always replaced by [[Standard Chinese]] (based on the [[Beijing dialect]]) in writing.
**[[Wu Chinese|Wu]], in [[Shanghai]], southern [[Jiangsu]], [[Zhejiang]] and eastern [[Jiangxi]].
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**[[Xiang Chinese|Xiang]], in [[Hunan]].
**[[Gan Chinese|Gan]], in [[Jiangxi]].
*[[Kashubian language|Kashubian]], a regional language of [[Poland]], has a bit under 90 thousand speakers, and is a language of the [[Lechitic languages|Lechitic]] branch, alongside [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Silesian language|Silesian]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lekhitic languages {{!}} Slavic, Baltic & Germanic {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lekhitic-languages |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2015-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610230836/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/335581/Lekhitic-languages |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Kashubian language|Kashubian]], a regional language of [[Poland]].
*[[Limburgish]], a regional language in [[Germany]], the [[Netherlands]] and Belgium, has around one million speakers and is closely related to [[Luxembourgish]], [[South GuelderishKleverlandish]] and [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian]].
*[[Low German]] (also referred to as Low Saxon), an officially recognized regional language in Germany and the Netherlands, the direct descendant of [[Old Saxon]]. Sometimes (e.g. by nds and nds-nl Wikipedia) considered two languages divided by today’s Netherlands–German border on account of Dutch influences in the west and German influences in the east; closely related to [[Frisian languages|Frisian]], more distantly to [[German language|German]].
*[[Scots language|Scots]], a regional language of [[Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland]] (both part of the [[United Kingdom]], and where it is known as [[Ulster Scots dialectsdialect|Ulster Scots]] in the latter location), belongs to the same family of [[West Germanic languages]] as [[English language|English]].
* [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]], [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and [[Venetian language|Venetian]], regional languages spoken in [[Italy]] which also belong to the same family of standard Italian ([[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian]]).
* Regional languages of [[Languages of Spain|Spain]] and [[Languages of Portugal|Portugal]]:
**[[Aranese dialect|Aranese]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], and [[Galician language|Galician]] are each, in the regions where they are the autochthonous language, co-official in status with [[Spanish language|Castilian]] (Spanish) which is official everywhere in the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]].
**[[Asturian language|Asturian]] and [[Leonese language|Leonese]] are recognized (but unofficial) in [[Asturias]] and [[Castile and León]] (Spain), while [[Mirandese language|Mirandese]] is co-official with Portuguese in [[Miranda do Douro]] (Portugal). These Romance languages are classified under the term [[Astur-Leonese linguisticAsturleonese grouplanguage|Astur-Leonese languages]]. [[Asturleonese language|Astur-Leonese]] is closely related to both [[CastilianSpanish language|Castilian]] and [[Galician language|Galician]], which itself is most closely related to [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. [[Catalan language|Catalan]] is an [[Occitano-Romance languages|Occitano-Romance language]].
**[[Occitan language|Occitan]], most widely spoken across the Pyrenees in France and Catalonia, together with Catalan, forms a subgroup of Romance languages linguistically intermediate between [[Gallo-Romance languages|French]] and the [[Iberian Romance languages|Ibero-Romance languages]] of Spain and Portugal. [[Aranese dialect|Aranese]] is a subdialect of [[Gascon languagedialect|Gascon]]
*[[Tibetic languages]]
**[[Amdo Tibetan|Amdo tibetan language]] have regional official status in [[amdo]] or [[Qinghai]].
**[[Lhasa Tibetan|Standard Tibetan]] is currently based on [[Lhasa Tibetan]].
*[[Võro language|Võro]] and [[Seto languagedialect|Seto]], regional languages of [[Estonia]], are either dialects of [[Estonian language|Estonian]] or separate [[Finnic languages]] as Estonian.
*[[Walloon language|Walloon]], a regional language of France and [[Belgium]], belongs to the same family of [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl languages]] as [[French language|French]].
*[[Hindi language|Hindi]] and English are the [[Official language|official languages]] of [[India]]'s [[Government of India|Central Government]].
**The officially declared [[Languages of India|Indian#Scheduled languages|regional languages of India]] are: [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[BhojpuriBoro language|Bhojpuri]], [[Bodo language(India)|Bodo]], [[Dogri language|Dogri]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[KannadaHindi]], language|[[Kannada]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Meitei language|Manipuri]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Santali language|Santali]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[SinhalaTamil language|SinhalaTamil]], [[TamilTelugu language|TamilTelugu]], and [[TeluguUrdu]]. language|TeluguMost are [[Indo-Aryan languages]] like Hindi and descend from Sanskrit, but 4 (Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam) are [[TuluDravidian language|Tululanguages]], 2 (Bodo and Manipuri) are [[UrduSino-Tibetan]], and Santali is a [[Munda languages|Munda language]]. In addition, there have been demands for 38 more languages to receive recognition.<ref>https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/EighthSchedule_19052017.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424003517/https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/EighthSchedule_19052017.pdf |date=2022-04-24 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref>
*[[Sylheti language|Sylheti]], a regional language of the [[Sylhet Division]] of [[Bangladesh]] and the [[Barak Valley]] of [[Assam]], India, is often considered a dialect of Bengali but is also sometimes seen as a separate language.
*[[Chittagonian language|Chittagonian]], a regional language of parts of the [[Chittagong Division]] of [[Bangladesh]], is often considered a dialect of Bengali but is also sometimes seen as a separate language.
 
In other cases, a regional language may be very different from the state's main language or official language. For example:
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*[[Basque language|Basque]], a regional language spoken in [[Spain]] and [[France]] ([[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]]).
*[[Breton language|Breton]], a regional Celtic language spoken in [[France]] ([[Brittany]]).
*[[Cherokee language|Cherokee]] is an [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian]] language, and one of the many [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Native American languages]] spoken in the [[United States|U.S.]] State of [[Oklahoma]].
*[[Cornish language|Cornish]], a regional Celtic language in the [[United Kingdom]] ([[Cornwall]]).
*[[Corsican language|Corsican]], a regional language in [[France]] ([[Corsica]]) closely related to [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]]-derived [[Italian language|Italian]].
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*[[Resian dialect|Resian]], a dialect of [[Slovene language|Slovene]] spoken in [[Italy]] ([[Resia, Friuli|Resia valley]]).
*[[Sardinian language|Sardinian]], a regional [[Romance languages|Romance language]] spoken in [[Italy]] ([[Sardinia]]).
*[[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]], a regional [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]] spoken in the [[United Kingdom]] ([[Scotland]]).
*[[Sorbian languagelanguages|Sorbian]], a regional [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] language of [[Germany]].
*[[Welsh language|Welsh]], a regional [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] language spoken in the [[United Kingdom]] ([[Wales]]).
 
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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:
*[[Afrikaans]], an official language of [[South Africa]], is a regional language of [[Namibia]].
*[[Arabic language|Arabic]], official in [[Zanzibar]], a region of [[Tanzania]].
*[[Bengali language|Bengali]] is the official language of Bangladesh, and is the regional language of [[West Bengal]] in India.
*[[Cantonese]], one of the official standard varieties in [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] (both [[Special administrative region (People's Republicregions of China)|special administrative regionregions]]s of the [[China|People's Republic of China]]), is used as a regional language of the province of [[Guangdong Province|Guangdong]], [[China|People's Republic of China]].
*[[Catalan language|Catalan]], the official language of [[Andorra]], is a regional language in [[Spain]] ([[Catalonia]], [[Balearic Islands]] and [[Valencian Community]]), [[France]] ([[Pyrénées Orientales]]) and [[Italy]] ([[Alghero]], [[Sardinia]]).
*[[GermanCatalan language|GermanCatalan]], anthe official language of [[Austria]], [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[SwitzerlandAndorra]], is a regional language in [[ItalySpain]] ([[South TyrolCatalonia]]), [[PolandBalearic Islands]] (and [[SilesiaValencian Community]]), [[France]] ([[AlsacePyrénées-Orientales|Pyrénées Orientales]]) and [[Lorraine (region)|LorraineItaly]]), ([[DenmarkAlghero]] and, [[NamibiaSardinia]]).
*[[TaiwaneseGerman Hakkalanguage|HakkaGerman]], one of thean official language inof [[TaiwanAustria]], is[[Belgium]], spoken[[Germany]], as[[Liechtenstein]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[Switzerland]], is a regional language ofin the[[Italy]] province([[South ofTyrol]]), [[GuangdongPoland]] Province|Guangdong([[Silesia]]), [[JiangxiFrance]] ([[Alsace]] and [[FujianLorraine]]), [[People'sDenmark]] Republic([[Region of ChinaSouthern Denmark|Southern]]) and [[Namibia]].
*[[HungarianTaiwanese languageHakka|HungarianHakka]], aone [[Uralicof languages|Uralicthe language]]national andlanguages official inof [[HungaryTaiwan]], is spoken as a regional language in the provinces of [[RomaniaGuangdong]], whose[[Jiangxi]] officialand language[[Fujian]], [[Romanian languageChina|Romanian]]People's isRepublic aof Romance languageChina]].
*[[IrishTaiwanese GaelicHokkien|IrishHokkien]], the first official languageone of the [[Republicnational languages of Ireland[[Taiwan]], is spoken as a regional language in the provinces of [[Northern IrelandFujian]], part[[Zhejiang]] ofand the[[Guangdong]], [[UnitedChina|People’s Republic of KingdomChina]].
*[[KoreanHungarian language|KoreanHungarian]], thea official[[Uralic languages|Uralic language]] ofand official in [[KoreaHungary]], is a regional language inof [[People's Republic of ChinaRomania]] ([[YanbianHungarians Koreanin AutonomousRomania|Northern PrefectureTransylvania]]).
*[[MalayIrish Languagelanguage|MalayIrish]], the first official language of [[Malaysia]],the [[Brunei]]Republic andof [[SingaporeIreland]], is a regional language in [[IndonesiaNorthern Ireland]], part of the ([[RiauUnited ProvinceKingdom]]).
*[[RussianJapanese language|RussianJapanese]], the official languageone of the [[Russiannational Federation]]language andin [[BelarusJapan]], is a regional language of in [[AbkhaziaPalau]], ([[SouthAngaur OssetiaIsland]] and other entities).
*[[Korean language|Korean]], the official language of [[Korea]], is a regional language in [[China|People's Republic of China]] ([[Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture]]).
*[[Malay language|Malay]], the official language of [[Malaysia]], [[Brunei]] and [[Singapore]], is a regional language in [[Indonesia]] ([[Riau|Riau Province]]).
*[[Russian language|Russian]], the official language of the [[Russia|Russian Federation]] and [[Belarus]], is a regional language of [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]] and other entities.
*[[Tamil language|Tamil]], one of the official languages of [[Singapore]] and [[Sri Lanka]], is a regional language in India ([[Tamil Nadu]])
*[[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]], an official language of [[Eritrea]], is a regional language in [[Ethiopia]] ([[Tigray Region]]).
*[[Turkish language|Turkish]], the official language of [[Turkey]] and [[Northern Cyprus]], is a regional language of [[Kosovo]].
 
==See also==
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*[[Languages of Spain]]
*[[Languages of the United Kingdom]]
*[[British-IrishBritish–Irish Council]]
 
== References ==▼
{{Reflist}}▼
 
==External links==
* [http://ppooii.com Regional language accessibility web tool ]
 
{{Authority control}}
▲== References ==
▲{{Reflist}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regional Language}}
[[Category:Linguistic rights]]
[[Category:Linguistic minorities]]
[[Category:LanguageConcepts in language policy]]
 
[[eu:Hizkuntza gutxitu]]
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