ICA course on Toponymy

4. The scope of Toponymic Guidelines - 1. Language

1. Language

What issues are dealt with here?

What is the official language?
Is there one nation-wide official language, or are there more?
Are there languages that are official on a sub-national level? What is their alphabet and pronunciation?

Example of the Northern Sámi alphabet from the Norwegian Guielines:

Are there minority-languages in official use on a local level? What is their extent?

Sample maps showing the extent of Sámi- and Swedish-speaking minorities in Finland:

Sample maps showing the extent of Basque- and Corsican-speaking minorities in France:

Sample map showing the extent of German dialects in France:

Sample maps showing the extent of Danish- and Sorbian-speaking minorities in Germany:

What is the national language?
What is the exact status of the different languages, both nationally, regionally, and locally?
Are there substrata of other languages visible?
Is there a subdivision into dialects which is relevant for placenames?

Dialects in Germany:

Dialects and minority languages in France:

Dialects and minority language areas in Austria:

In Austria:

German is the only nation-wide official language.
Minority languages play a subordinate role, and are of regional and local importance only.

Standard German is the national language.
The main dialects belong to the Alemannic (Vorarlberg and some parts of Tyrol) and Bavarian dialect groups (the rest of the country) of the Germanic languages.
The main characteristics of the dialects, and their historic background, are summarized.
Austria officially recognizes four minority languages: Slovenian (in Carinthia), Burgenland Croatian (in Burgenland), Hungarian (also in Burgenland), and Czech (in Vienna).
A map is enclosed.
The alphabets of these languages, and in the case of Burgenland Croatian (native to Austria only) a pronunciation key, are presented, and their official and de facto status for toponymic use is explained.