Editing Languages of the United States (section)

==Official languages==
[[File:USA states english official language.svg|thumb|upright=1.35 |alt=Map of United States Official Language Status By State|Map of U.S. official language status by state.
{{Legend|#000081|English declared the official language}}
{{Legend|#8181ff|Multiple official languages, including English (Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota), or languages with special status (New Mexico)}}
{{Legend|#d4d4d4|No official language specified.}}]]

On March 1, 2025, President [[Donald Trump]] issued [[Executive Order 14224]], declaring English the official language of the United States.<ref name="EOWP" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Press |first=Associated |date=2025-03-02 |title=Trump signs executive order designating English as official language of US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/02/trump-signs-executive-order-designating-english-as-official-language-of-us |access-date=2025-03-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The U.S. Congress has never passed legislation declaring an official language at the federal level.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/20/us/english-us-official-language-trnd/index.html|title=FYI: English isn't the official language of the United States|date=May 20, 2018 |publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Faingold |first=Eduardo D. |date=2018 |title=Language Rights and the Law in the United States and Its Territories |publisher=Lexington Books |page=8 |quote=The United States has never had an official language and attempts to declare English its official language have been unsuccessful in the U.S. Congress.}}</ref> The most recent attempt, the [[Inhofe Amendment]] (2006), declared English the "national language"; it passed overwhelmingly in the [[U.S. Senate]] but failed to win enough votes in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] to become federal law. Nonetheless, English is typically used by the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] and in states that do not have an official language. 

Outside of Puerto Rico, English is the primary language used for legislation, regulations, executive orders, treaties, federal court rulings, and all other official pronouncements. Nonetheless, laws require some documents, such as [[ballots]], to be printed in both English and one or more other languages if there are large numbers of non-English speakers in an area. Proceedings of the [[United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico]] are required by federal law to be in English,<ref>{{USCode|48|864}}</ref> despite the predominantly Spanish-speaking population and the status of Spanish as an official language of the territorial government.

Thirty-two of the 50 states have adopted legislation granting official or co-official status to English, in some cases as part of what has been called the [[English-only movement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.us-english.org/view/1034 |title=U.S. English Efforts Lead West Virginia to Become 32nd State to Recognize English as Official Language |publisher=us-english.org |url-status=dead |access-date=13 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401151700/http://us-english.org/view/1034 |archive-date=1 April 2016 }}</ref><ref>"[https://www.usenglish.org/us-states-official-english-laws/ Official English]". ''U.S. English'', 2022.</ref> Typically only "English" is specified, not a particular variety like American English. (From 1923 to 1969, the state of Illinois recognized its official language as "American".)<ref>{{cite news |last=Crews |first=Haibert O. |date=January 23, 1923 |title=Talk American, Not English |page=10 |work=[[Champaign-Urbana Courier]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74230858/talk-american-not-english/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 23, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Robert |date=September 24, 1969 |title=News Briefs: Its Legal—We Speak English |at=sec. 1, p. 3 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74217269/news-briefs-its-legal-we-speak-english/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 23, 2021}}</ref>

[[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] and English are the official languages of [[Hawaii]], reflecting the [[Hawaiian Kingdom]]'s history of trade and diplomacy with Britain in the  decades prior to its [[Territory of Hawaii|annexation by the United States]] in 1898. Alaska has made some [[Alaska Native languages|20 native languages]] official, along with English;<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/24/alaskas-indigenous-languages-official "Alaska's indigenous languages attain official status"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212093511/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/24/alaskas-indigenous-languages-official |date=February 12, 2017 }}, Reuters.com, October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20216&session=28|title=Bill History/Action for 28th Legislature HB 216|website=The Alaska State Legislature|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204183710/http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20216&session=28|archive-date=February 4, 2017|access-date=February 11, 2017}}</ref> for example, Alaska provides voting information in [[Iñupiaq language|Iñupiaq]], [[Central Alaskan Yup'ik language|Central Yup'ik]], [[Gwich'in language|Gwich'in]], [[Siberian Yupik language|Siberian Yupik]], and [[Koyukon language|Koyukon]] among others.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/21/305688602/alaska-oks-bill-making-native-languages-official Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120081808/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/21/305688602/alaska-oks-bill-making-native-languages-official |date=January 20, 2015 }} April 21, 2014; Bill Chappell; NPR.org</ref> On July 1, 2019, a law went into effect making [[Lakota language|Lakota]], [[Dakota language|Dakota]], and [[Nakota language|Nakota]]&nbsp;the official indigenous languages of [[South Dakota]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eu.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/22/south-dakota-recognizes-official-indigenous-language-governor-noem/3245113002/ |title=South Dakota recognizes official indigenous language|date=March 25, 2019}}</ref> 

[[French language|French]] is a ''de facto'', but unofficial, language in [[Maine]] and [[Louisiana]], and since 1848 [[New Mexico]] law has granted Spanish speakers in the state the right to receive many services in Spanish. The government of Louisiana offers services and most documents in both English and French, and New Mexico does so in English and Spanish.

English is at least one of the official languages in all five permanently inhabited [[U.S. territories]]. In [[Puerto Rico]], both English and Spanish are official, although Spanish has been declared the principal official language. The school system and the government operate almost entirely in Spanish, but federal law requires the [[United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico]] to use English,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/48/864 |title=48 U.S. Code § 864 – Appeals, certiorari, removal of causes, etc.; use of English language &#124; LII / Legal Information Institute |publisher=Law.cornell.edu |access-date=2015-06-01}}</ref> like the rest of the federal court system.

[[Guam]] recognizes English and [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]]. In the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], English is the only official language. In [[American Samoa]], both English and [[Samoan language|Samoan]] are officially recognized; English is common but Samoan is also seen in some official communications. In the [[Northern Mariana Islands]], English, Chamorro, and [[Carolinian language|Carolinian]] are official.<ref>{{Citation |title=Northern Mariana Islands |date=2024-09-27 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/northern-mariana-islands/#people-and-society |access-date=2024-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007094221/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/northern-mariana-islands/#people-and-society |archive-date=2024-10-07 |url-status=live |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}</ref>

In [[New Mexico]], although the state constitution does not specify an official language, laws are published in English and Spanish, and government materials and services are legally required (by Act) to be made accessible to speakers of both languages as well as [[Navajo language|Navajo]] and various [[Puebloan peoples|Pueblo]] languages. New Mexico also has [[New Mexican Spanish|its own dialect of Spanish]], which differs from Spanish spoken in [[Latin America]].

[[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]], [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]], and [[Sioux language|Sioux]] are among many other [[Native American languages]] which are official or co-official on many U.S. [[Indian reservation]]s and [[Pueblo]]s. In [[Oklahoma]] before statehood in 1907, territory officials debated whether or not to have [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]], [[Choctaw language|Choctaw]], and [[Creek language|Muscogee]] languages as co-official, but the idea never gained ground. [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]] is officially recognized by the [[Cherokee Nation]] within the Cherokee tribal jurisdiction area in eastern Oklahoma.<ref>{{cite book|author=James W. Parins|title=Literacy and Intellectual Life in the Cherokee Nation, 1820–1906|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dab8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA248|date=November 4, 2013|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-5122-9|page=248}}</ref>

After [[New Amsterdam]] (formerly a [[Dutch colonization of the Americas|Dutch colony]]) was transferred to English administration (becoming the [[Province of New York]]) in the late 17th century, English supplanted [[Dutch language|Dutch]] as the official language. However, "Dutch remained the primary language for many civil and ecclesiastical functions and most private affairs for the next century."<ref>David W. Voorhees, "Dutch Political Identity in English New York" in ''Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations: 1609-2009'' (eds. Hans Krabbendam, Cornelis A. van Minnen & Giles Scott-Smith: [[SUNY Press]], 2009), pp. 132-33.</ref> The [[Jersey Dutch]] dialect is now extinct.

California has agreed to allow the publication of state documents in other languages to represent minority groups and immigrant communities. Languages such as [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], Tagalog, [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], and [[Thai language|Thai]] appear in official state documents, and the Department of Motor Vehicles publishes in nine languages.<ref>California Department of Motor Vehicles Website (actual website blocked by Wikipedia)</ref>

The issue of [[multilingualism]] also applies in the states of [[Arizona]] and [[Texas]]. While the constitution of Texas has no official language policy, Arizona passed a proposition [[United States general elections, 2006|in 2006]] declaring English as the official language.<ref>{{Citation
|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/ballot.measures/
|title=America Votes 2006: Key Ballot Issues
|publisher=CNN
|access-date=February 22, 2008
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209132213/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/ballot.measures/
|archive-date=February 9, 2008
}}</ref> Nonetheless, Arizona law requires the distribution of voting ballots in Spanish, as well as indigenous languages such as [[Navajo language|Navajo]], [[O'odham language|O'odham]] and [[Hopi language|Hopi]], in counties where they are spoken.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/votingrights/vec/az_voter_empowerment.pdf|title= Arizona Voter Empowerment Card, 2010 Elections|publisher=[[American Civil Liberties Union]]|access-date=September 3, 2015}}</ref>

A popular [[urban legend]] called the [[Muhlenberg legend]] claims that German was almost made an official language of the United States but lost by one vote. In reality, it was a request by a group of German immigrants to have an official translation of laws into German. House speaker [[Frederick Muhlenberg]] has since become associated with the legend.<ref name="1983art1">Heath, Shirley Brice & Frederick Mandabach. ''Language Status Decisions and the Law in the United States'', in Cobarrubias, Juan & Joshua A. Fishman, eds., [https://books.google.com/books?id=x9KoAkzfVqIC&pg=PA94 Progress in Language Planning], p. 94 (1983)</ref><ref name="sick">[[Bastian Sick|Sick, Bastian]] (May 19, 2004). [http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/0,1518,306711,00.html ''German as the official language of the USA?''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050913071522/http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/0%2C1518%2C306711%2C00.html |date=September 13, 2005 }}, ''[[Spiegel Online]]'' (in English)</ref><ref name="snopesgerman">Mikkelson, David (2008). [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081216214909/http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/german.asp ''German Almost Became Official Language''], ''[[Snopes]]''</ref>

{{Official languages of U.S. states and territories}}

===Education===
[[Bilingual education by country or region#United States|Bilingual education in the United States]], often a different concept from [[language immersion]] or [[Dual language|dual-language school]] programs, is an area of political controversy. In standard bilingual classes, the non-English language (typically Spanish or Chinese) is utilized over a period of time when students' English-language proficiency is lacking. Otherwise the [[medium of instruction]] at almost all U.S. schools, at all levels, is English. The exceptions are in language classes such as French or German, or in general education in the territory of [[Puerto Rico]], where Spanish is standard. English is the language of instruction in the territory of [[American Samoa]], despite most students speaking [[Samoan language|Samoan]] as their native language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doe.as/files/user/2/file/SB%20Elementary%20Math%20Standards.pdf|title=American Samoa Department of Education - Mathematics Content Standards|access-date=September 9, 2021|archive-date=November 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103012910/https://www.doe.as/files/user/2/file/SB%20Elementary%20Math%20Standards.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There are also hundreds of [[Language immersion#United States|language immersion]] and dual-language schools across the United States that teach in a variety of languages, including Spanish, [[Hawaiian language#Hawaiian in schools|Hawaiian]], [[Chamorro language#Revitalization efforts|Chamorro]], [[French language|French]], and [[Mandarin Chinese]] (for example, the [[Mandarin Immersion Magnet School]] in [[Houston]], Texas). However, English is a mandatory class in all these schools.