Editing Languages of the United States (section)

==Immigrant languages==

===Arabic===
{{Main|Arabic language in the United States}}
The Arabic language is spoken by immigrants from the [[Middle East]] as well as many [[Islam in the United States|Muslim Americans]]. The highest concentrations of native Arabic speakers reside in heavily urban areas like [[Chicago]], [[New York City]], and [[Los Angeles]]. [[Detroit]] and the surrounding areas of Michigan boast a significant Arabic-speaking population including many [[Arab Christians]] of [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]], [[Syrian]], and [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] descent.

Arabic is used for religious purposes by Muslim Americans and by some Arab Christians (notably [[Catholics]] of the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite]] and [[Maronite]] Churches as well as Rum Orthodox, i.e. [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Antiochian Orthodox Christians]] and [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic]] churches.). A significant number of educated Arab professionals who immigrate often already know English quite well, as it is widely used in the Middle East. Lebanese immigrants also have a broader understanding of French as do many Arabic-speaking immigrants from [[North Africa]].<ref name="British Council">[https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/english-soft-skills-maghreb-research-report.pdf ENGLISH AND SOFT SKILLS IN THE MAGHREB, 2016]."  ''[[British Council]]''. p. 45. Retrieved on 17 February 2024.</ref><ref name=PCGN2>"[http://www.pcgn.org.uk/Algeria-Language%20and%20Toponymy-2003.pdf ALGERIA Language & Toponymy How politically driven language policies have impeded toponymic progress]." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20121003195714/http://www.pcgn.org.uk/Algeria-Language%20and%20Toponymy-2003.pdf Archive]) [[Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use]]. p. 2. Retrieved on 12 March 2013. "Yet Arabic is rarely heard in Kabylie, where Berber and French are spoken"</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/La_francophonie_dans_le_monde_2006-2007.pdf |title= Christian Valantin (sous la dir. de), ''La Francophonie dans le monde. 2006-2007'', éd. Nathan, Paris, 2007, p. 16 |language= fr |access-date= 2011-03-05 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121224074425/http://www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/La_francophonie_dans_le_monde_2006-2007.pdf |archive-date= 2012-12-24 |url-status= dead }}&nbsp;{{small|(5.58&nbsp;MB)}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Bahous |first1=Rima |last2=Bacha |first2=Nahla Nola |last3=Nabhani |first3=Mona |date=9 December 2011 |title=Multilingual educational trends and practices in Lebanon: A case study |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11159-011-9250-8 |journal=International Review of Education |volume=57 |issue=5–6 |pages=5 |doi=10.1007/s11159-011-9250-8 |bibcode=2011IREdu..57..737B |issn=0020-8566}}</ref>

===Czech===
====Texas Czech====
12,805 [[Demographics of Texas|Texans]] can speak the [[Czech language]].<ref name="usefoundation">{{cite web |url=http://www.usefoundation.org/userdata/file/Research/Languages/czech.pdf |title=Czech language |publisher=[[U.S. English (organization)|U.S. English]] |access-date=2013-05-11 |archive-date=2012-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304193742/http://www.usefoundation.org/userdata/file/Research/Languages/czech.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Drawing on Boas's model for interviewing speakers of the language and digitally cataloging the dialects, John Tomecek founded and Lida Cope of East Carolina University developed the Texas Czech Legacy Project at the University of Texas at Austin to document and preserve the dwindling language.<ref name = "utaustin2010">{{Cite web
| title = Vanishing Voices: Linguists work with remaining speakers of dying languages to preserve cultural memories
| work = University of Texas at Austin
| access-date = 2013-06-02
| date = 2010-01-11
| url = https://www.utexas.edu/features/2010/01/11/dying_languages/
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=2006 KJT Website Homepage |access-date=2013-06-02 |url=http://www.kjtnet.org/Culture.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113065845/http://www.kjtnet.org/Culture.htm |archive-date=January 13, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
| last = Cope
| first = Lida
| title = Creating a Digital Archive of Texas Czech: Applied Documentation for the Community, Education, and Research
| access-date = 2013-06-02
| url = http://www.aatseel.org/100111/pdf/4b9_2_cope.pdf
}}</ref>
Because the majority of Texas immigrants came from Moravia, the Czech spoken in Texas is largely characterized by Moravian dialects ([[Lach dialects|Lachian]] and [[Moravian dialects#Eastern Moravian|Moravian Wallachian]]) which vary to some extent from the Bohemian dialects spoken by most Czech-Americans. Czech-language journalism has been very active in the state over the years. Thirty-three newspapers and periodicals have been published. As of 1993 one weekly newspaper, ''Našinec'', published at [[Granger, Texas|Granger]], and one monthly, ''Hospodář'', published at [[West, Texas|West]], were still being published entirely in Czech. Other periodicals such as ''Věstník'' and the ''Brethren Journal'' contained sections printed in Czech.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book
| publisher = Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
| last = Machann
| first = Clinton
| title = The Handbook of Texas Online
| chapter = CZECHS
| access-date = 2013-06-02
| chapter-url = http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/plc02
}}</ref>

===Finnish===
[[File:Finnish USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Finnish language distribution in the United States.]]
The first Finnish settlers in America were amongst the settlers who came from Sweden and Finland to the [[New Sweden]] colony. Most colonists were Finnish. However, the Finnish language was not preserved as well among subsequent generations as Swedish.

Between the 1890s and the outbreak of the first World War, an estimated quarter million [[Finnish citizen]]s immigrated to the United States, mainly in rural areas of the [[Midwest]] and more specifically in the mining regions of Northeastern [[Minnesota]], Northern Wisconsin and [[Michigan]]'s [[Upper Peninsula]]. [[Hancock, Michigan]], as of 2005, still incorporates bi-lingual street signs written in both English and Finnish.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlisle |first=John |title=Fortitude, tradition help Finns flourish in brutal U.P. |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/john-carlisle/2014/08/23/john-carlisle-fortitude-tradition-help-finns-flourish-in-brutal-up/14501869/ |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=[[Detroit Free Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Michigan HR0007 {{!}} 2017-2018 {{!}} 99th Legislature |url=https://legiscan.com/MI/text/HR0007/id/1456169 |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=LegiScan |language=en}}</ref> [[Finnish American|Americans of Finnish origin]] yield at 800,000 individuals, though only 26,000 speak the language at home. There is a distinctive dialect of English to be found in the Upper Peninsula, known as [[Yooper dialect|Yooper]]. Yooper often has a Finnish cadence and uses Finnish sentence structure with modified English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish vocabulary.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
Notable Finnish Americans include U.S. Communist Party leader [[Gus Hall]], film director [[Renny Harlin]], and the Canadian-born actress [[Pamela Anderson]].

Northern Clark County, Washington (encompassing Yacolt, Amboy, Battle Ground and Chelatchie) contains a large exclave of [[Old Apostolic Lutheran Church|Old Apostolic Lutherans]] who originally immigrated from Finland. Many families in this portion of the county speak fluent Finnish at home before learning English.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} Another noteworthy Finnish community in the United States is found in [[Lake Worth Beach, Florida]], north of Miami.

===Hebrew===
Modern Hebrew is spoken by Israeli immigrants. Liturgical Hebrew is used as a religious or liturgical language<ref>{{cite journal|last=Eric L. Friedland|title=Hebrew Liturgical Creativity in Nineteenth-Century America|journal=Modern Judaism|volume=1|issue=3|pages=323–336|jstor=1396251 |year=1981|doi=10.1093/mj/1.3.323}}</ref> by many of the United States' approximately 7 million Jews.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brandeis University Study Finds that American-Jewish Population is Significantly Larger than Previously Thought|date=February 2, 2007 |url=http://download.2164.net/PDF-newsletters/jewishpopulation.pdf|access-date=November 30, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002122538/http://download.2164.net/PDF-newsletters/jewishpopulation.pdf|archive-date=October 2, 2013}}</ref>

===Gaelic Languages===
{{further|Goidelic languages}}

About 40 million Americans have Irish ancestry, many of whose ancestors would have spoken [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]]. In 2013, around 20,600 Americans spoke Irish at home and {{As of|2008}} it was the 76th most spoken language in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=Language Use in the US 2006–2008 (850k Excel file!)|url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/other/detailed-lang-tables.xls|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=June 23, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622082540/http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/other/detailed-lang-tables.xls|archive-date=June 22, 2011}}</ref> An additional 1,600 spoke Scottish Gaelic.<ref name="census.gov">{{Cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html|title=Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013|website=Census.gov}}</ref>

===Italian, Sicilian and Neapolitan===
{{Main|Italian language in the United States}}
[[File:Italian USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|right|Current distribution of the Italian language in the United States.]]
The [[Italian language]] and other [[Italo-Dalmatian languages]] have been widely spoken in the United States for more than one hundred years, primarily due to large-scale immigration from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century.

In addition to Italian learned by most people today, there has been a strong representation of the languages of Southern Italy amongst the immigrant population ([[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]] in particular). As of 2009, though 15,638,348 American citizens report themselves as Italian-Americans, only 753,992 of these report speaking the Italian language at home (0.3264% of the US population).

===Khmer (Cambodian)===
{{main|Cambodian Americans}}
Between 1981 and 1985 about 150,000 Cambodians resettled in the United States.<ref>[http://www.apiahf.org/resources/pdf/Cambodians_in_the_United_States.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325111513/http://www.apiahf.org/resources/pdf/Cambodians_in_the_United_States.pdf|date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> Before 1975 very few Cambodians came to the United States. Those who did were children of upper-class families sent abroad to attend school. After the [[fall of Phnom Penh]] to the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975, some Cambodians managed to escape. In 2007 the American Community Survey reported that there were approximately 200,000 Cambodians living in the United States, making up about 2% percent of the Asian population. This population is, however, heavily concentrated in two areas: the [[Los Angeles metropolitan area]] in [[California]], especially the city of [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]]; and [[Greater Boston]] in [[New England]], especially [[Lowell, Massachusetts]]. These two areas hold a majority of the Cambodians living in the US.

===Korean===
{{further|Korean language|Korean language education in the United States}}
In 2011 over 1.1 million Americans spoke [[Korean language|Korean]] at home. This number increased greatly at the end of the 20th century, increasing 327% from the 300,000 speakers in 1980. The greatest concentration of these speakers was in the [[Los Angeles metropolitan area|Los Angeles]], [[New York metropolitan area|New York]], and [[Washington metropolitan area|Washington D.C.]] metro areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2013/cb13-r91.html|title=More Than 1 Million U.S. Residents Speak Korean at Home|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US|access-date=2020-04-22}}</ref> Speakers of Korean are found in the [[Koreatown]]s.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

===Polish and Silesian===
As of 2013, around 580,000 Americans spoke Polish at home.<ref name="census.gov"/> The [[Polish language]] is very common in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]]. Chicago's third largest [[white ethnic]] groups are [[Polish American|those of Polish descent]], after [[German Americans|German]] and [[Irish Americans|Irish]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_14_5YR_B04006&prodType=table |title=American FactFinder - Results |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214060657/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_14_5YR_B04006&prodType=table |archive-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> The [[Polish people]] and the Polish language in Chicago were very prevalent in the early years of the city, and today the 650,000 Poles in [[Chicago]] make up one of the largest ethnically [[Polish diaspora|Polish populations in the world]], comparable to the city of [[Wrocław]], the fourth largest city in Poland. That makes it one of the most important centers of [[Polish diaspora|Polonia]] and the Polish language in the United States, a fact that the city celebrates every Labor Day weekend at the Taste of Polonia Festival in [[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]].<ref>{{Citation
 |url          = http://www.usaweekend.com/05_issues/050515/050515travel_diverse.html#chicago
 |archive-url  = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171228210650/http://www.usaweekend.com/#chicago
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-date = December 28, 2017
 |title        = America the diverse: Chicago's Polish neighborhoods
 |publisher    = usaweekend.com
 |date         = May 15, 2005
 |access-date  = July 4, 2008
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref>

====Texas Silesian====
{{further|Texas Silesian}}
[[Texas Silesian]], a dialect of the [[Silesian language]] (itself controversially considered a branch of Polish by some linguists), has been used by Texas [[Silesians]] in American settlements from 1852 to the present.

===Portuguese===
{{further|Portuguese Americans|Brazilian Americans|Cape Verdean Americans}}

The first Portuguese speakers in America were [[Portuguese Jews]] who had fled the [[Portuguese Inquisition]]. They spoke [[Judeo-Portuguese]] and founded the earliest Jewish communities in the [[Thirteen Colonies]], two of which still exist: [[Congregation Shearith Israel]] in New York and [[Congregation Mikveh Israel]] in Philadelphia. However, by the end of the 18th century, their use of Portuguese had been replaced by English.

In the late 19th century, many Portuguese, mainly [[Azorean]]s, [[Madeiran]]s and [[Cape Verdeans]] (who prior to independence in 1975 were Portuguese citizens), immigrated to the United States, settling in cities like [[Providence, Rhode Island]], [[New Bedford, Massachusetts]], and [[Santa Cruz, California]]. There was also substantial [[Portuguese immigration to Hawaii]] to supplement plantation labor.

In the mid-late 20th century there was another wave of Portuguese immigration to the US, mainly the Northeast (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts), and for a time [[History of the Lusophone Americans in Newark, New Jersey|Portuguese became a major language in Newark, New Jersey]]. Many Portuguese Americans may include descendants of Portuguese settlers born in [[Portuguese-speaking African countries|Portuguese Africa]] (known as [[Portuguese Africans]], or, in Portugal, as ''[[retornados]]'') and [[Asia]] (mostly [[Macau]]). There were around 1 million [[Portuguese American]]s in the United States by 2000. Portuguese ([[European Portuguese]]) has been spoken in the United States by small communities of immigrants, mainly in the metropolitan [[New York City]] area, like [[Newark, New Jersey]].

The Portuguese language is also spoken widely by [[Brazilian Americans]], concentrated in [[Miami]], [[New York City]], and [[Boston]].

===Swedish===
[[File:Swedish USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Swedish language distribution in the United States.]]
There has been a Swedish presence in America since the [[New Sweden]] colony came into existence in March 1638.

Widespread diaspora of Swedish immigration did not occur until the latter half of the 19th century, bringing in a total of a million Swedes. No other country had a higher percentage of its people leave for the United States except Ireland and Norway. At the beginning of the 20th century, [[Minnesota]] had the highest ethnic Swedish population in the world after the city of [[Stockholm]].

3.7% of US residents claim descent from Scandinavian ancestors, amounting to roughly 11–12 million people. According to SIL's Ethnologue, over half a million ethnic Swedes still speak the language, though according to the 2007 American Community Survey only 56,715 speak it at home. [[Cultural assimilation]] has contributed to the gradual and steady decline of the language in the US. After the independence of the US from the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], the government encouraged colonists to adopt the English language as a common medium of communication, and in some cases, imposed it upon them. Subsequent generations of Swedish Americans received education in English and spoke it as their first language. Lutheran churches scattered across the Midwest started abandoning Swedish in favor of English as their language of worship. Swedish newspapers and publications alike slowly faded away.

There are sizable Swedish communities in Minnesota, Ohio, Maryland, Philadelphia, and Delaware, along with small isolated pockets in Pennsylvania, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, and New York. Chicago once contained a large Swedish enclave called [[Andersonville, Chicago|Andersonville]] on the city's north side.

[[John Morton (American politician)|John Morton]], the person who cast the decisive vote leading to Pennsylvania's support for the [[United States Declaration of Independence]], was of Finnish descent. Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden in the 18th century.

===Walloon===
==== Wisconsin Walloon ====
{{Main|Wisconsin Walloon}}
[[Wisconsin Walloon]] is a dialect of the [[Walloon language]] brought to Wisconsin from [[Wallonia]], Belgium's largely French-speaking region. It is spoken in the [[Door Peninsula]] of [[Wisconsin]], [[United States]].{{Sfn|Biers|Osterhaus|2021|p=1}}

The speakers of Wisconsin Walloon are descendants of [[Belgian Americans|Belgian immigrants]] from a wave of immigration lasting from 1853 to 1857. It includes around 2,000 Belgians who immigrated to Wisconsin.<ref name="UT Arlington">{{cite web |last1=Tinkler |first1=Jacqueline |title=The Walloon Immigrants of Northeast Wisconsin: An Examination of Ethnic Retention |url=https://rc.library.uta.edu/uta-ir/bitstream/handle/10106/11844/Tinkler_uta_2502M_12187.pdf |website=University of Texas Arlington Libraries Research Commons |access-date=28 May 2022}}</ref> Walloon is sometimes referred to by its speakers as "Belgian".{{Sfn|Biers|Osterhaus|2021|p=2}} The descendants of native Walloon speakers have since switched to English, and as of 2021, Walloon has fewer than 50 speakers in the United States.{{Sfn|Biers|Osterhaus|2021|p=1}}

===Welsh===
{{further|Welsh language}}
[[File:Welsh USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Welsh language distribution in the United States.]]
Up to two million Americans are thought to have Welsh ancestry. However, there is very little [[Welsh language|Welsh]] being used commonly in the United States. According to the 2007 American Community Survey, 2,285 people speak Welsh at home; primarily spoken in [[California]] (415), [[Florida]] (225), [[New York (state)|New York]] (204), [[Ohio]] (135), and [[New Jersey]] (130).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&mode=lang_tops&SRVY_YEAR=2000&lang_id=633|title=Welsh : Source: Census 2000, Summary File 3 |publisher=Mla.org|access-date=January 18, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112758/http://www.mla.org/map_data_results%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26SRVY_YEAR%3D2000%26lang_id%3D633|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> Some place names, such as [[Bryn Mawr Historic District|Bryn Mawr in Chicago]] and [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania]] ({{langx|en|Big Hill}}) are Welsh. Several towns in [[Pennsylvania]], mostly in the [[Welsh Tract]], have Welsh namesakes, including [[Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania|Uwchlan]], [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania|Bala Cynwyd]], [[Lower Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania|Gwynedd]], and [[Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania|Tredyffrin]].

===Tagalog===
[[File:Tagalog USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Distribution of U.S. households that speak Tagalog at home]]
Tagalog speakers were already present in the United States as early as the late sixteenth century as sailors contracted by the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonial government]]. In the eighteenth century, they established settlements in [[Louisiana]], such as [[Saint Malo, Louisiana|Saint Malo]]. After the [[Philippine–American War|American annexation of the Philippines]], the number of Tagalog speakers steadily increased, as Filipinos began to migrate to the U.S. as students or contract laborers. Their numbers, however, decreased upon [[Republic Day (Philippines)|Philippine independence]], as some Filipinos were [[Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935|repatriated]].

Today, Tagalog, together with its standardized form [[Filipino language|Filipino]], is spoken by over a million and a half [[Filipino American]]s and is promoted by Filipino American civic organizations and Philippine consulates. As [[Filipino American|Filipinos]] are the second largest [[Asian people|Asian]] ethnic group in the United States, Tagalog is the second most spoken [[Asian language]] in the country, after [[chinese language|Chinese]]. [[Taglish]], a form of [[code-switching]] between Tagalog and English, is also spoken by a number of Filipino Americans.

Tagalog is also taught at some universities where a significant number of Filipinos exist. As it is the national and most spoken language of the Philippines, most Filipinos in the United States are proficient in Tagalog in addition to their local regional language.

===Vietnamese===
{{main|Vietnamese language in the United States}}
[[File:Vietnamese USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|right|Vietnamese language distribution in the United States]]
According to the [[United States 2010 Census|2010 Census]], there are over 1.5 million Americans who identify themselves as Vietnamese in origin, ranking fourth among the Asian American groups and forming the largest [[Overseas Vietnamese]] population.

[[Orange County, California]], is home to the largest concentration of ethnic Vietnamese outside Vietnam, especially in its [[Little Saigon]] area. Other significant Vietnamese communities are found in the metropolitan areas of [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[Houston]], [[Dallas-Fort Worth]], [[Seattle]], [[Northern Virginia]], and [[New Orleans]]. Similarly to other overseas Vietnamese communities in Western countries (except France), the Vietnamese population in the United States was established following the [[Fall of Saigon]] in 1975 and communist takeover of [[South Vietnam]] following the [[Vietnam War]].

===South Asian languages===
There are many South Asians in the United States. These include [[Indian American|Indians]], [[Pakistani American|Pakistanis]], and [[Bangladeshi American|Bangladeshis]], who speak various South Asian languages. Major [[Languages of South Asia|South Asian languages]] spoken in the US include [[Telugu language|Telugu]] (see "Telugu" below), [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Kannada language|Kannada]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] (see "Tamil" below), [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] (see "Hindi-Urdu" below), [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]] (see "Nepali" below), and [[Marathi language|Marathi]].

====Hindi and Urdu====
{{Main|Hindustani language}}
[[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] are the two standard registers of the Hindustani language, an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] language native to [[Hindi Belt|North India]], [[Deccan Plateau|Central India]], and [[Pakistan]]. While the formal registers draw vocabulary from Sanskrit and Arabic & Persian respectively, the colloquial forms are indistinguishable. Hindi and Urdu are widely spoken among the [[Indian Americans|Indian]] and [[Pakistani Americans|Pakistani]] communities in the United States as a first or second language. Speakers are concentrated in states with large South Asian populations, including California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Virginia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Results |website=American FactFinder |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk#none |publisher=U. S. Census Bureau |access-date=2019-08-30|archive-date=July 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714212254/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk#none|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Additionally, Hindi-Urdu (Hindustani) is a cultural language for many South Asians who have different mother tongues and dialects. Bollywood in particular, as well as film music, is an important cultural product that influences many South Asian youth. Some South Indians, Bangladeshis, and Indian Bengalis learn the language or its dialects through films.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shankar|first=Shalini|date=2008|title=Speaking like a Model Minority: "FOB" Styles, Gender, and Racial Meanings among Desi Teens in Silicon Valley|journal=Journal of Linguistic Anthropology|language=en|volume=18|issue=2|pages=268–289|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1395.2008.00022.x}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shankar|first=Shalini|title=Reel to real|date=2010|journal=Pragmatics|volume=14|issue=2–3|pages=317–335|doi=10.1075/prag.14.2-3.12sha|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Nepali====
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2017}}
The first Nepalese to enter the United States were classified as "other Asian". Immigration records show that between 1881 and 1890, 1,910 "other Asians" were admitted to the United States. However, Nepal did not open its borders until 1950, and most Nepalis who left the country during that time went primarily to India to study. Nepalese Americans were first classified as a separate ethnic group in 1974 when 56 Nepalese immigrated to the United States. New York City, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Columbus, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Erie, Harrisburg, Chicago, Denver, [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]], Portland, and Saint Paul have the largest number of Nepalese. There are some Nepalese community or cultural events in every American state, including [[Dashain]], [[Tihar (festival)|Tihar]], [[Holi]], [[Teej]] Special, and [[Nepali New Year]].

====Tamil====
The Tamil community in the United States is largely bilingual. Tamil is taught in weekly classes in many Hindu temples and by associations such as the American Tamil Academy in South Brunswick, Tamil Jersey School in Jersey City, New Jersey,<ref>See [http://ns.gmnews.com/news/2014-09-04/Front_Page/School_offers_Tamil_language_classes.html "School offers Tamil language classes" ''Sentinel'' Sept. 4, 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315035938/http://ns.gmnews.com/news/2014-09-04/Front_Page/School_offers_Tamil_language_classes.html |date=March 15, 2016 }}</ref>

The written form of the language is highly formal and quite distinct from the spoken form. A few universities, such as the University of Chicago and the University of California Berkeley, have graduate programs in the language.<ref>Vasudha Narayanan, "Tamils" in David Levinson and Melvin Ember, eds. ''American immigrant cultures: builders of a nation'' (1997). p. 878.</ref>

In the second half of the 20th century, Tamils from India migrated as skilled [[professional]]s to the United States, [[Canada]], [[Europe]], and [[Southeast Asia]]. The Tamil American population numbers over 195,685 individuals,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/other/detailed-lang-tables.xls|title=US Census 2006-2008 American Community Survey See Row# 125}}</ref> and the [[Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America]] functions as an [[umbrella organization]] for the growing community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fetna.org/index.php/2011-12-22-02-18-20/2011-12-22-02-21-42|title=About FETNA|publisher=Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America|access-date=April 1, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116211514/http://www.fetna.org/index.php/2011-12-22-02-18-20/2011-12-22-02-21-42|archive-date=January 16, 2013}}</ref>

The [[New York City]] and [[Los Angeles]] metropolitan areas are home to the largest concentrations of Tamil-speaking [[Sri Lankan American]]s.<ref name=LPR12>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2012-legal-permanent-residents |title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2012 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=March 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403073333/http://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2012-legal-permanent-residents |archive-date=April 3, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=LPR11>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR11.shtm |title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2 |publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=March 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808080130/http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR11.shtm|archive-date=August 8, 2012}}</ref><ref name=LPR10>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR10.shtm|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2 |publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=March 31, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712200141/https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR10.shtm|archive-date=July 12, 2012}}</ref> New York City's [[Staten Island]] alone is estimated to be home to more than 5,000 Sri Lankan Americans,<ref name="SriLankansStatenIsland">{{cite news |author=Kirk Semple |date=June 8, 2013 |title=Sri Lankans have gathered on Staten Island,... |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/09/nyregion/new-york-citys-newest-immigrant-enclaves.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005001531/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/09/nyregion/new-york-citys-newest-immigrant-enclaves.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=October 5, 2013 |access-date=June 9, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> one of the largest Sri Lankan populations outside [[Sri Lanka]] itself,<ref name=lankasrilittle>{{cite web |title=Why Staten Island? |publisher=Little Sri Lanka |url=http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/lankasrilittle/gallery/ |access-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726083820/http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/lankasrilittle/gallery/ |archive-date=July 26, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and a significant proportion of whom speak Tamil.

[[File:Top of Rock Cropped.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|The [[Indians in the New York City metropolitan region|New York City Metropolitan Area]], including [[Central Jersey|Central]] [[New Jersey]] as well as [[Long Island]] and [[Staten Island]] in [[New York (state)|New York]], is home to the largest [[Tamil American]] population.]]

[[Central Jersey|Central New Jersey]] is home to the largest population concentration of Tamils. [[New Jersey]] houses its own [[Tamil Sangam]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100902115102/http://www.njtamilsangam.info/ New Jersey Tamil Sangam<!-- Bot generated title -->]}}</ref> Sizeable populations of [[Indian American]] Tamils have also settled in the [[New York metropolitan area|New York City]] and [[Washington metropolitan area|Washington]] metropolitan areas, as well as on the West Coast in Silicon Valley, where there are Tamil associations such as the Bay Area Tamil Mandram.<ref name="Bay">{{Cite web |title=Introduction|website=Bay Area Tamil Manram |url=http://www.bayareatamilmanram.org/eng/introduction.php |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027163310/http://www.bayareatamilmanram.org/eng/introduction.php|url-status=dead |archivedate=October 27, 2010}}</ref>

==== Telugu ====
{{See also|Telugu Americans}}

There were {{sigfig|171495|3}} speakers of [[Telugu language|Telugu]] in 2006–2008.<ref>{{cite web| title =  Table 1. Detailed Languages Spoken at Home| url = https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/other/detailed-lang-tables.xls| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604062111/http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/other/detailed-lang-tables.xls| archive-date=June 4, 2011| url-status = dead}}</ref>
In the second half of the 20th century, Telugu people from India (especially from [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Telangana]], [[Karnataka]] and [[Tamil Nadu]]) migrated as professionals to the United States. [[Central Jersey|Central New Jersey]] is home to the largest population concentration of Telugu people. Telugu people have also settled in [[New York City]] and the [[DC metropolitan area]], as well as on the West Coast in Silicon Valley. The [[New York City]] and [[Los Angeles]] metropolitan areas are home to the largest concentrations of Telugu-speakers.