In the last issue of this journal I reported on the en banc decision of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Yniquez case, which challenged the constitutionality of the 1988 initiative in Arizona that made English the official language of that state. The judges held 6-5 that state employees have a First Amendment free speech right to use any language of their own choosing in the discharge of their duties on behalf of the state. This is true, held the court, even if the employee's supervisor cannot understand that language.
Under this ruling it would presumably be possible for a state employee to use any of the 300-plus languages besides English that the U.S. Census Bureau reports are spoken in the United States. We thought you would like to see that listing. How many of these languages have you heard of before?
My request (I am the sole defendant in this case) to the U.S. Supreme Court to review this matter was filed on December 20, 1995. I hope to have the court's decision some time in the next two or three months.
[Tax-deductible contributions are urgently needed to help underwrite the costs of this court action. These can be sent to English Language Advocates, 316½ E. Mitchell St., Petoskey, MI 49770, earmarked for the Yniguez case.
Indo-European
Languages
Afrikaans
Albanian
Armenian
Assamese
Balochi
Bengali
Bielorussian
Bihari
Bulgarian
Cajun
Catalonian
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Fradese
French
French Creole
Frisian
German
Greek
Gujarathi
Gullah
Hawaiian Pidgin
Hindi (Urdu)
Icelandic
Irish Gaelic
Italian
Jamaican Creole
Kashmiri
Krid
Kurdish
Ladino
Lettish
Lithuanian
Lusatian
Luxembourgian
Macedonian
Marathi
Nepali
Norwegian
Oriya
Panjabi
Papia Mentae
Pashto
Patois
Pennsylvania
Dutch
Persian
Pidgin
Polish
Portuguese
Provencal
Rajasthani
Rhaeto-Romanic
Romany
Rumanian
Russian
Sanskrit
Saramacca
Scottic Gaelic
Serbian
Serbocroatian
Simohi
Sinhalese
Slovak
Slovene
Spanish
Swedish
Ukrainian
Welsh
Yiddish
Asian and Pacific
Island Languages
Achinese
Azerabaijani
Balinese
Bikol
Bisayan
Brahut
Burmese
Carolinian
Chak
Chamorro
Chinese
Dravidian
Fijian
Formosan
Fuchow
Gilbertese
Gondi
Hakka
Hawaiian
Ilocano
Indonesian
Japanese
Javanese
Kachin
Kamnada
Karachay
Karen
Kazakh
Kirghiz
Korean
Kurukh
Kusatean
Malagasy
Halay
Malayalan
Mandarin
Madri
Marquesan
Marshallese
Melanesian
Miao (Hmong)
Miao-Yao
Micronesian
Minangkabau
Mokilese
Mon-Khmer
(Cambodian)
Mongolian
Munda
Muong
Miuean
Mukuoro
Palau
Paleo-Siberian
Pampangan
Pangasiman
Polynesian
Pohapean
Samoan
Sebuako
Sundanese
Tagalog
Tamil
Telugu
Thai (Laotian)
Tibetan
Tokelauan
Tongan
Trukese
Tungus
Turkish
Turkhen
Uishur
Ulithean
Vietnamese
Moleai-Ulithi
Mu
Yapese
Native North
American
Languages
Achumami
Ahtena
Alabama
Aleut
Algonquian
American Indian
Apache
Arapaho
Arikara
Athapascan
Atsina
Blackfoot
Caddo
Cahuilla
Cayuga
Chasta Costa
Chemehuevi
Cherokee
Chinook Jargon
Chiricahua
Chimere
Choctaw
Clallan
Cocomaricopa
Coeur d'Alene
Columbia
Comanche
Cree
Cupeno
Dakota
Delaware
Delta River Yuman
Diegueno
Eskimo
Foothill No. Yokuts
Fox
French Cree
Haida
Han
Havasupai
Hibatsa
Hopi
Hupa
Inupik
Iroquois
Jicarilla
Kalispel
Kansa
Karok
Keres
Kickapoo
Kiowa
Kiowa-Apache
Klamath
Koasati
Koyukon
Kuchin
Kutenai
Kwakiutl
Luiseno
Makah
Mandan
Menomini Miami
Micmac
Mikasuki
Mohave
Mohawk
Mono
Mountain Maibu
Muskogee
Navaho
Nez Perce
Nootsack
Northern Patute
Ojibwa
Okamogan
Omaha
Oneida
Onondaga
Osage
Other Athapascan-Eyak
Ottawa
Patute
Passamaquoddy
Pawnee
Penobscot
Picuris
Pina
Pono
Ponca
Potawatomi
Puget Sound Salish
Guapam
Quinault
Sahaptian
Salish
San Carlos
Sandia
Seneca
Serrano
Shastan
Shawnee
Shoshoni
Sierra Miwok
Siuslaw
Spokane
St. Lawrence Is.
Tachi Tamaina
Tema
Tilanook
Tiwa
Tlingit
Tonkawa
Towa
Tsinshian
Twana
Upper Chehalis
Upper Chinook
Ute
Walapai
Washo
Wichita
Winnebago
Winton
Yaqui
Yavapai
Yuchi
Yuki
Yuma
Yupik Yurok
Zuni
Other Languages
African
Akharic
Arabic
Arawakian
Aykara
Aztecan
Bantu
Basque
Berber
Caucasian
Chadic
Chibchan
Cushite
Efik
Estonian
Finnish
Fulaki
Gur
Hebrew
Hungarian Khoisan
Kru
Lapp
Mande
Mapuche
Mayan Languages
Hbum (and
related)
Misumalpan
Nilo-Hamitic
Milo-Sharan
Milotic
Nubian
Other Uralic Lang.
Oto - Manguen
Quechua
Saharan
Sonoran, Nec
Sudanic
Swahili
Syriac
Tarascan
Tupi-Guarani
Source: 1990 U.S. Census, Table: "Language Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for Persons 5 Years and Over"
Bureau of the Census, Document: CPH-L-133