Unity is an important quality of every society because it brings about peaceful co-existence, progress, and development. There are languages that serve the purpose of fostering unity in regions, and this brings us to the study of national language in linguistics.
What is a National language?
A national language is an important unifying factor in nations of the world today. It is a language that is used by the government to create a sense of oneness in the citizens of a nation. It is not like an official language that is used to steer the affairs of a nation, including its political activities, economies, media as well as education. Rather it is a unification tool that is used to remind citizens of a nation of their common heritage.
For instance; a politician campaigning for public support prior to an election, can choose to address the citizens in the national language. This because a national language is a language depicts the common history, culture, experiences of people of a nation, regardless of the many languages that may exist in such a nation. The national language of Russia is Russian, the national language of Brazil is Portuguese, the national language of India is Hindi, the national language of Germany is German, the national language of Mexico is Spanish, Nigeria does not have a designated national language—however, the three major languages: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa, are often considered national languages—and the list goes on.
While many nations have the same languages as both their national language and their official language, there is an important criteria that a language must meet before it can be accorded the status of a national language in a nation.
The criteria is that the language must be indigenous to the nation where it is accorded such status. What this means is that, such a language must be native to the nation. It must have originated from and continually been spoken in such a nation, otherwise it cannot be accorded the status of a national language. Take India for instance, they have quite a number of official languages including the English language which is not indigenous to the country, however, their national language is Hindi. This is because the language originated from the nation of India, and its widespread use by Indians makes it credible for the position.
In Nigeria, the position of National language is vacant even as there is an official language—the English language. The reason why the position is vacant is because unlike many other nations, Nigeria cannot make its official language its national language, and this is because the language is not indigenous to Nigeria. The English language did not originate from Nigeria neither has it existed in the nation for an ancient period of time.
The major languages that qualify for the position of national language: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa could not be established as national languages for political reasons, and for fear of domination by minority languages. The major hindering factor in Nigeria attaining a national language is tribalism and paper unity.
What is the national language of your country?
Let me know in the comments section.
So a national language is one of the many tools for facilitating unity among citizens of a nation. It is a language that indexes common history, common heritage, common experiences of a people and is used to create a sense of oneness in them. Understanding national language will better inform you on the unifying role language plays in nations or the world.
Read more:
- Official Language in Linguistics Explained: The Language of Government
- Properties of Language in Linguistics Explained: Understanding the Features of Language
- Dialect in Linguistics: Understanding the Varieties of Language
- Language Acquisition and Language Learning in Linguistics Explained: Understanding the Process of Learning a Language