The Five-Minute Linguist - Bite-sized Essays on Language and Languages Third Edition - Caroline Myrick
44. How Can a Country Function with More than One Official Language?
The Five-Minute Linguist - Bite-sized Essays on Language and Languages Third Edition - Caroline Myrick
Vijay Gambhir [+]
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Vijay Gambhir is a retired professor of South Asian languages and linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. She received her MA in linguistics from Delhi University and Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. Her areas of interest include syntax, second language acquisition, assessment and heritage language learning. She has published articles in scholarly journals and books. She is the editor of the book 'Teaching and Acquisition of South Asian Languages' published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. She is also guest editor of 'Teaching and Learning South Asian Heritage Languages', the first volume of the online journal South Asia Language Pedagogy and Technology.
Description
Countries with multiple languages and strong regional, linguistic or cultural identities often have to settle with more than one official language. This essay describes how pluralistic India functions with its two official languages and multiple other languages recognized by the Constitution of India.