Linguistic rights

Linguistic rights protect people's ability to use, maintain, and develop languages, including rights to education and public services in a chosen language.

Language policy: Laws, regulations, and practices that shape how languages are used in public life. Linguistic rights set limits and goals for language policy.
Mother-tongue education: Education delivered in a learner's first or home language. It is a common expression of the right to learn in one's language.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A 1948 United Nations declaration setting out fundamental rights and freedoms. Its nondiscrimination principle includes language among prohibited grounds.
Linguistic assimilation: A process or policy through which speakers shift toward a dominant language and away from their own. It can conflict with protections for maintaining and transmitting minority languages.
Language shift: A community's gradual replacement of one language by another across generations. Rights and public support can influence whether communities maintain or abandon a language.
Human rights: Rights and freedoms held by people by virtue of being human. Linguistic rights are often grounded in broader human-rights guarantees.
Language access: Measures that let people with limited proficiency in a service language use public or private services. Interpretation and translation can make essential services accessible across language barriers.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: A 1966 treaty requiring states parties to protect civil and political rights. Article 27 protects linguistic minorities' use of their own language.
Linguistic imperialism: The dominance of one language imposed or reinforced through political, economic, or cultural power. It highlights how unequal power can constrain language choice and survival.
Language revitalization: Organized efforts to restore a language's use and transmission within a community. Legal protections can create conditions for revitalization through schooling and public recognition.

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