The Six Official UN Languages
Languages are part of our cultural identity. They play a huge role in the United Nations, which is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to maintain friendly relations between nations. The six official UN languages are:
Arabic language
Chinese language
English language
French language
Russian language
Spanish language
Clear communication on issues of global importance should be in place. For this reason, ensuring the correct translation of the official UN languages is essential. At times, an unofficial language can be used to make a statement, but the statement will be immediately interpreted into one of the official UN languages. In fact, this ensures the utmost understanding across communications.
Each of the official UN languages has its own language day. Interestingly, this article will discuss the importance of each of the official UN languages and the celebration day for each.
UN Languages: French Language
French is one of the six official UN languages. The French language has about 274 million fluent speakers, 76 million are native French speakers. It has the second highest number of speakers in the European Union of the official UN languages. Unsurprisingly, France has the highest number of French native speakers. Moreover, French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It originated from the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul. Additionally, it is the official language in 29 countries across multiple continents.
In an article published by George Weber in Language Today, the French language reached second place in “The World’s 10 Most Influential Languages”. This is based on the number of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers, the economic power of the countries that use the language and the prestige associated with the mastery of the language.
Notably, French Language Day falls on 20 March in order to pay tribute to 20 March 1970, which is the day of formation of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT). Later on, it became the International Organisation of the Francophile (IOC). The organisation aims to strengthen and promote the French language and its values.
UN Languages: Spanish Language
The next of the official UN languages is Spanish. The Spanish language is the primary language spoken in 20 countries throughout the world. Significantly, there are an estimated 463 million Spanish speakers making it the second most spoken language by native speakers. In addition, an additional approximately 75 million people speak Spanish as a second language, making it the fourth most popular second language in the world.
Furthermore, Spanish is a Romance language that belongs to the Indo-European language family. It originated from the Latin spoken in the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish language can be traced back to the 9th century in Northern Iberia. Spanish Language Day falls on 23 April as it is the anniversary of the death of Miguel De Cervantes, a renowned Spanish writer. Likewise, it is a day that celebrates the awareness of the language throughout the United Nations and the world in general.
UN Languages: English Language
The English language is the most spoken of the official UN languages in the world. It is the third most spoken native language in the world too. According to the 2016 statistics, 400 million people spoke English as their first language and 1.1 billion spoke it as a second language. A variety of communities across every continent use English as their language.
English is a West Germanic language that belongs to the Indo-European language family. It was originally spoken in early medieval England. Moreover, it has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years and has transformed from old English to modern English versions. Astonishingly, English Language Day falls on the same day as Spanish Language Day, 23 April. The date marks both the birthday and death day of the famous writer William Shakespeare. Notably, it is part of the Department of Global Communications’ 2010 initiative to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity around the world.
UN Languages: Chinese Language
Chinese is one of the six official UN languages. The Chinese language is a group of languages that constitute the Sinetic branch of Sino-Tibetan languages. About 1.6 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language. While many native speakers consider the varieties of Chinese to belong to one language, linguists consider them to be different languages.
The earliest records of the Chinese language date back to the Shang Dynasty era that began in 1250 BCE. In the 1930s, the Republic of China adopted Standard Chinese (also called Mandarin), making it now the official language of China. Currently, the People’s Republic of China promotes simplified characters.
Like the other official UN languages, Chinese also has its own language day. The Chinese Language Day marks 20 April to pay tribute to Cangjie, a mythical figure who invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago. It falls in conjunction with Guyu, a traditional celebration of Cangjie.
UN Languages: Arabic Language
The Arabic language is another official UN language. It is a Semitic language that dates to the 1st and 4th centuries CE. It is the primary language of the Arab World and the sacred language of Islam. There are 32 varieties of Arabic derive from both Classical and Modern Standard Arabic, but native speakers refer to both as eloquent Arabic.
An estimated 422 million speakers speak some form of the Arabic language. It is the fifth most spoken language in the world and the fourth most used language on the Internet. Uniquely, Bloomberg Businessweek named Arabic as the fourth most useful language for business.
The Arabic Language Day is marked on 18 Dec because it coincides with the day in 1973 when the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Arabic as its sixth official language.
UN Languages: Russian Language
The Russian language is an East Slavic language that originated in Russia. It belongs to the Indo-European language family, It is widely spoken in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It is also one of the six official UN languages.
Russian is the most spoken Slavic language with an estimated 250 speakers worldwide. It has the highest number of native language speakers in Europe and the most disseminated language throughout Eurasia. It is the seventh most spoken language of native speakers and the eighth most spoken language in general.
Like the other official UN languages, Russian has its own language day. Famously, Russian Language Day falls on 6 June. It coincides with the birthday of the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin, who is considered the father of the Russian language.
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In conclusion, the six official UN languages are exceptional and interesting. If you need professional translation services in any of these languages, please contact Renaissance Translations. We can translate in multiple language pairs such as English to French, French to Spanish, English to Chinese, English to Arabic or else. We are always there for you for all your translation needs.
