Official script

File:"a" in official Indian-language scripts (serif).svg

The letters of the Indic official scripts of the Indian Republic used by the official languages of India –
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These are the examples of the official scripts.

An official script is a writing system that is specifically designated to be official in the constitutions or other applicable laws of countries, states, and other jurisdictions. Akin to an official language, an official script is much rarer. It is used primarily where an official language is in practice written with two or more scripts. As, in these languages, use of script often has cultural or political connotations, proclamation of an official script is sometimes criticized as having a goal of influencing culture or politics or both. Desired effects also may include easing education, communication and some other aspects of life.

List of official scripts

Below is a partial list of official scripts used in different countries. Those in italics are states that have limited international recognition.

This list does not cover local variations of international scripts, such as which diacritics are used.

• Armenia – Armenian alphabet
• Bolivia – Latin script
• Bosnia and Herzegovina:
  • Republika Srpska – Cyrillic and Latin<ref>Constitution of Republika Srpska Template:Webarchive, Article 7.</ref>
  • Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Cyrillic and Latin<ref>Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Template:Webarchive, Part I, Article 6.</ref>
• Bulgaria – Cyrillic (Bulgarian alphabet)
• Cambodia – Khmer script
• China, People's Republic of (mainland China) – Simplified Chinese<ref>National People's Congress of China, Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Hong Kong SAR – Traditional Chinese (de facto), Latin script<ref>After the announcement of Simplified Chinese in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau didn't follow the change, making Traditional Chinese the de facto official script. (Hong Kong and Macau were still colonies at that time, and their current constitutions don't state whether Tradition Chinese or Simplified Chinese is to be used. Both places continued to use Traditional Chinese after handover.see List of languages written in Chinese characters and derivatives of Chinese characters )</ref>
  • Macau SAR – Traditional Chinese (de facto), Latin script
  • Inner Mongolia region – Mongolian alphabet, Simplified Chinese
  • Tibet region – Tibetan alphabet, Simplified Chinese
  • Xinjiang region – Uyghur Ereb Yéziqi,<ref>Xinjiang Languages

and characters, Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Simplified Chinese

• • Guangxi region – Zhuang Latin alphabet, Simplified Chinese
• Croatia – Croatian alphabet<ref>Constitution of Croatia, Article 12: Template:Cite web</ref>
• Ethiopia – Ge'ez script
• Eritrea – Ge'ez script
• Georgia – Georgian alphabetTemplate:Citation needed
• Greece – Greek alphabet
• Hungary – Latin script
• India:
  • Hindi,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Marathi, Konkani, Nepali, Maithili, Boro, Sanskrit, Dogri – Devanagari
  • Assamese – Assamese alphabet
  • Bengali – Bengali alphabet
  • Gujarati – Gujarati script
  • Kannada – Kannada script
  • Kashmiri – Perso-Arabic script
  • Malayalam – Malayalam script
  • Meitei – Meitei script
  • Odia – Odia script
  • Punjabi – Gurmukhi
  • Santali – Ol Chiki script
  • Sindhi – Perso-Arabic script, Devanagari
  • Tamil – Tamil script
  • Telugu – Telugu script
  • Urdu – Urdu alphabet
• Islamic world:
  • Afghanistan – Perso-Arabic
  • Algeria – Arabic and Tifinagh
  • Azerbaijan – Azeri Latin alphabet<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • Bahrain – Arabic
  • Bangladesh – Bengali alphabet
  • Brunei – Rumi script (Latin) and Jawi script (Arabic)
  • Egypt – Arabic
  • Indonesia – Rumi script (Latin)
  • Iran – Perso-Arabic<ref>Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Official Language, Script, Calendar, and Flag of the Country Template:Webarchive.</ref>
  • Iraq – Arabic
  • Jordan – Arabic
  • Kazakhstan – Cyrillic (Kazakh, Russian) and Latin (Kazakh)
  • Kuwait – Arabic
  • Lebanon – Arabic
  • Libya – Arabic
  • Malaysia – Rumi script (Latin); Jawi script (Arabic) is recognized.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Maldives – Thaana
  • Oman – Arabic
  • Palestine – Arabic
  • Qatar – Arabic
  • Saudi Arabia – Arabic
  • Tunisia – Arabic
  • Turkey – Latin alphabet
  • United Arab Emirates – Arabic
  • Yemen – Arabic
• Italy:
  • Venetian (Official script of the Venetian language)
• Japan – a combination of Kana (Hiragana, Katakana) and Kanji (Shinjitai)
• Korea (both) – Chosŏn'gŭl/Hangul<ref name="AltonChidley2013">Template:Cite book</ref> (Hanja is sometime used in South Korea, not used in North Korea)<ref>Article 14 of the Framework Act on Korean Language Template:Webarchive prefers hangul but also allows hanja in parentheses, in cases prescribed by South Korean Presidential Decree.</ref>
• Laos – Lao script
• Malta – Latin script
• Moldova – Latin alphabet<ref>Constitution of Moldova, Article 13: Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mongolia – Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet and Mongolian script<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Montenegro – Cyrillic (Montenegrin alphabet)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Myanmar – Burmese alphabet
• Nepal
  • Nepali language — Devanagari
  • Nepal Bhasa — Ranjana script
  • Maithili — Tirhuta script and Kaithi
  • Bhojpuri language — Kaithi and Devanagari
  • Magar — Magar Akkha script and Devanagari
  • Tharu — Devanagari
  • Tamang — Tamyig, Devanagari and Tibetan script
  • Bajjika — Tirhuta script, Kaithi and Devanagari
  • Limbu — Limbu script
  • Bantawa — Kirat Rai script and Devanagari
  • Gurung — Khema script, Devanagari and Tibetan script
  • Awadhi — Kaithi, Perso-Arabic script, Devanagari and Latin script
  • Urdu — Urdu alphabet, Roman Urdu and Urdu Braille
• North Macedonia – Cyrillic (Macedonian alphabet)<ref>Constitution of Macedonia, Article 7: Template:Cite web</ref>
• Philippines – Latin alphabet (de facto)
• Russian Federation – Cyrillic (Russian alphabet)<ref>In Russian, the designation of Cyrillic as an official script (2001) has the consequence that the official languages of national Republics of Russia have to be written in the Cyrillic script in all official institutions and education. The passing of the law was met with particular resistance and criticism in the Republic of Tatarstan, as it replaced the Turkish Latin alphabet which the local government tried to promote in education after the dissolution of USSR.see List of languages in Russia</ref>
• Serbia – Cyrillic (Serbian alphabet)<ref>Constitution of Serbia, Article 10: Template:Cite web</ref>
• Singapore
  • English, Malay — Latin script
  • Mandarin – Simplified Chinese
  • Tamil – Tamil script
• Slovakia – Latin script
• Taiwan<ref>Control by Republic of China</ref> – Traditional Chinese
• Thailand – Thai script
• Ukraine – Cyrillic (Ukrainian alphabet)
• United Kingdom  – Latin script
• Vietnam – Latin script (de facto)<ref>Chapter I - Decree 5 - Section 3 of the current Constitution (2013) states that Vietnamese language is the National language of Vietnam, but nothing states the Vietnamese Latin Alphabet (called as chữ Quốc ngữ) is the official script de jure.[1] Template:Webarchive chữ Hán (Chinese characters) and chữ Nôm sometime can be used, most in activities about the traditional cultural in Vietnam (e.g. Vietnamese calligraphy).</ref>

Historical

• In the USSR, numerous languages were latinized during the 1920s–1930s. In the late 1930s the Latinization campaign was canceled and all newly romanized languages were converted to Cyrillic.

See also

• Official language
• Spelling reform