Languages of the United States

In the United States approximately 337 languages ​​are spoken or written by the people, of which 176 Native American origin. 52 languages ​​that were once spoken in the U.S., have become extinct or are no longer used.

• 3.2.1 Hawaiian

Languages ​​with a high proportion speaker

Although the United States has no set official language, English is the de facto national language. It is used by 82 % of the population used as a native language and by almost all the inhabitants as a lingua franca.

Spanish is taught as the first foreign language, especially in areas with a high Latin American population, such as in states that border Mexico, also in Florida, and the cities of Chicago and New York. Younger generations come from any family with Spanish-speaking background, learn the language in increasingly higher number due to the increasing number of Spanish-speaking world's population. Approx. 16.3%, over 50 million Americans who speak Spanish as a mother tongue or a second language, making the United States the country with the second largest number of Spanish-speaking native speakers worldwide, according to Mexico and off Colombia, Spain and Argentina. In the southwestern states of bilingualism ( bilingualism ) is very widespread.

The Chinese, especially the Cantonese forms the third largest language community of the United States and is particularly represented in California.

In 4th place followed by the French with many speakers in Maine and Louisiana.

German, which is the second most spoken language in North Dakota and South Dakota, occupies the 5th place

Since the early 20th century immigrants Italian, Polish and Greek origin Furthermore form other noteworthy linguistic communities. Since the 1970s, many people immigrated from the Soviet Union and brought often the Russian with.

Tagalog, Vietnamese and Hawaiian also have a significant number of speakers.

Yiddish is V.A. of approximately 137,000 people spoken in the state of New York.

Official language (s )

In the United States there is no official language, but English is exclusively used officially in public.

The following States will consider the English as an official language that:

• USA Alabama Alabama
• USA - Arkansas Arkansas
• USA Colorado Colorado
• USA Florida Florida
• USA - Georgia Georgia
• USA - Illinois
• USA - Indiana

• USA -Iowa Iowa
• Virgin Islands United States American Jungferninseln1
• USA - California California
• USA - Kentucky Kentucky
• USA - Massachusetts Massachusetts
• USA Mississippi Mississippi

• USA - Missouri Missouri
• USA -Montana Montana
• USA - Nebraska Nebraska
• USA - New Hampshire
• USA North Carolina North Carolina
• USA - North Dakota North Dakota
• USA - South Carolina South Carolina

• USA - South Dakota South Dakota
• USA - Tennessee Tennessee
• USA Utah Utah
• USA Virginia Virginia
• USA - West Virginia West Virginia
• USA - Wyoming

California also lets you to write official documents in the following languages ​​:

• Chinese
• English
• Korean

• Persian
• Russian
• Spanish

• Tagalog
• Thai
• Vietnamese

The following countries and are bi-or trilingual Außengebiete1:

• Guam1 Guam ( Chamorro and English)
• USA - Hawaii ( Hawaiian official language, besides also Hawaiian English )
• USA - Louisiana Louisiana (English and French legally used, not an official language )
• USA New Mexico New Mexico ( English and Spanish legal uses, not an official language )
• Northern Mariana Islands Northern Marianen1 (English, Chamorro and Carolinian )
• Puerto Rico Puerto Rico1 ( Spanish and English )
• USA - Pennsylvania Pennsylvania ( German and English used legally, not an official language )
• American Samoa American Samoa1 ( Samoan and English)

Until the 1920s, New York State documents were also written in Dutch alongside English.

Quintessentially American languages ​​are official languages ​​in many Indian reservations. In Oklahoma, we debated the introduction or maintenance of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Muskogee languages ​​as official languages ​​; but the proposal never took foot and was rejected.

Though not an official language in New Mexico is set, laws must be announced in both English and Spanish. This was set in 1848 in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

The bilingualism, despite the absence of legal requirements in Texas and Arizona and throughout the Southwest States validity.

In 2000 the census questionnaires Committee printed in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The English -only movement (English Only Movement) seeks to enforce English as the only official language in the entire United States.

Pre-colonial languages

Quintessentially American languages

The indigenous American languages ​​were widespread before European colonization in the New World and are still spoken in Indian reservations. Most of these languages ​​are threatened with extinction, although there are programs to preserve them. Usually you measure the urgency of the number of speakers - the smaller it is, the endangered language. There are also some very small language communities in the southwestern states (Arizona and New Mexico), which are still preserved.

The United States and North America as a whole is one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world.

From the census of 2000, resulted in the Navajo language as the most widely used, as well as:

Navajo

178,000 speakers. Navajo is an Athabaskan language of the Na - Dene family. It was, together with the closely related Apache language spread in the southwestern states for several centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards.

Dakota

18,000 speakers ( 22,000 spokesman with the resident in Canada). Dakota is among the Sioux languages.

Yupik

16,000 spokesman in Alaska. Yupik Eskimo - Aleut is one of the languages.

Cherokee

16,000 speakers. Cherokee is one of the Iroquois languages ​​and despite their high tribal membership, which is the highest in the states, a modest number of speakers, as many tribal followers do not speak Cherokee. Conservation programs in Oklahoma and North Carolina are successfully carried out.

Apache

12,500 speakers. Apache is an Athabaskan language of the Na - Dene family and closely related to the Navajo language.

Pima

12,000 speakers. Pima is one of the Uto -Aztecan languages ​​, as well as Aztec, Hopi, Comanche and Huichol.

Choctaw

11,000 speakers. Choctaw belongs to the Muskogean languages ​​, as well as Seminole and Alabama.

Keres

11,000 speakers. Keres is an isolated language whose members constitute the largest Pueblo Nation. Acoma, a pueblo of Keres Nation is the oldest existing community of the United States.

Zuni

10,000 speakers. Zuni is an isolated language which is mainly spoken in Zuni, the largest pueblo in the USA.

Anishinabe

7,000 speakers ( 55,000 spokesman with the resident in Canada). Anishinabe one of the Algischen languages ​​, as well as Cree in Canada.

Other languages

North American languages ​​in northern Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Within the borders of the United States, many other languages ​​are spoken. The following list shows the 28 language families of the indigenous languages ​​of the Americas on the continental part of the United States. Since the affinities and orders are still relatively unexplored in these language areas, this list is probably still some changes need to be subjected (See also: Indigenous American languages).

• Algisch
• Alsea
• Caddo
• Chimakuan
• Chinook
• Chumash
• Cochimí - Yuma
• Comecrudan

• Coos
• Eskimo - Aleut
• Iroquoian
• Kalapuya
• Keres
• Kiowa - Tano
• Maidu
• Muskogee

• Na - Dene
• Palaihnihan
• Plateau Penutian
• Pomo
• Salish
• Shasta
• Sioux
• Tsimshian

• Uti
• Uto- Aztec
• Wakashan
• Wintu
• Yokut

Although these languages ​​in America since about 17,000 - 12,000 years are spoken, the knowledge is very limited about them. No doubt there are a number of languages ​​that have been well used and forgotten.

Quintessentially American sign language

A Handelspidgin, ( in English known as Plains Indian Sign Language, about Eben Indian sign language) was used as sign language. The ( spoken ) languages ​​of the natives were quite different, so that a universal means of communication was needed for understanding. According to current knowledge, it is assumed that these sign language originated in Texas and spread through the Plains to British Columbia through. Even today there are still indigenous people who use this, especially among the Absarokee, Cheyenne and Arapaho. Unlike other developed for listening capable people sign languages ​​, which provide Indian sign language has greatly simplified grammatical structures as they correspond to the deaf sign languages ​​.

Austronesian

Hawaiian

Hawaiian is an official state language of Hawaii, which is legally enshrined in the Constitution of Hawaii and about 1,000 native speaker. Once you counted them to the critically endangered languages ​​, but for some time can be a revival in the context of finding " Hawaiian Renaissance".