List of language regulators

This is a list of bodies that consider themselves to be authorities on standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are motivated by, or closely associated with, linguistic purism and prestige, and typically publish prescriptive dictionaries, which purport to officiate and prescribe the meaning of words and pronunciations. A language regulator may also have a more descriptive approach, however, while maintaining and promoting (but not imposing) a standard spelling. Many language academies are private institutions, although some are governmental bodies in different states, or enjoy some form of government-sanctioned status in one or more countries. There may also be multiple language academies attempting to regulate and codify the same language, sometimes based in different countries and sometimes influenced by political factors.

Many world languages have one or more language academies or official language bodies. However, the degree of control that the academies exert over these languages does not render the latter controlled natural languages in the sense that the various kinds of "simple English" (e.g., Basic English, Simplified Technical English) or George Orwell's fictional Newspeak are. They instead remain natural languages to a considerable extent and are thus not formal languages such as Attempto Controlled English. They have a degree of standardization that allows them to function as standard languages (e.g., standard French). The English language has never had a formal regulator in any country.

Natural languages

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" | Language

! scope="col" | Territory

! scope="col" | Regulator(s)

! scope="col" | Founded

| Amis

| Council of Indigenous Peoples

|1996

| Afrikaans

|

| (The Language Commission)

| 1909

| Akan

| Akan Orthography Committee

| rowspan="2" | Albanian

| Academy of Sciences of Albania

|1972

| Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo

|1975

| rowspan="13" |Arabic

| Academy of the Arabic Language ()

| Supreme Council of the Arabic language in Algeria ()

|1996

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo ()

|1932

| Iraqi Academy of Sciences ()

|1948

| Jordan Academy of Arabic ()

|1924

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Jamahiriya

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Morocco

| 1960

| King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language ()

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Mogadishu

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Khartum

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Damascus ()

| 1918

| Beit Al-Hikma Foundation ()

| 1992

| Academy of the Arabic Language in Israel ()

| 2007

| Aragonese

| Instituto de l'Aragonés (Previously: Academy of the Aragonese)

| 2013

| Armenian

| Armenian National Academy of Sciences ()

| 1943

| Assamese

| India

| Asam Sahitya Sabha ()

| 1917

| Asturian

| Academy of the Asturian Language (Academia de la Llingua Asturiana)

| 1980

| Azerbaijani

|

| Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (Azərbaycan Milli Elmlər Akademiyası)

| 1945

| Aymara

| Language and Culture Institute of the Aymara Nation (Instituto de Lengua y Cultura de la Nación Aymara - ILCNA)

|2013

| Balochi

|

| Balochi Academy Sarbaz ()

|2017

| Basque

| Basque Country Navarre French Basque Country

| Euskaltzaindia, often translated as Royal Academy of the Basque language

| 1918

| Belarusian

| The Jakub Kolas Institute of Language (Інстытут мовазнаўства імя Якуба Коласа) at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

| 1929

| rowspan="2" | Bengali (Bangla)

| Bangla Academy ()

| 1955

| Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi ()

| 1986

| rowspan="3" | Berber

| Royal Institute of Amazight Culture (ⴰⵙⵉⵏⴰⴳ ⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵜⵓⵙⵙⵏⴰ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ)

| 2001

| rowspan="2" |

| High Commission for Amazighity (ⵙⵇⴰⵎⵓ ⵓⵏⵏⵉⴳ ⵏ ⵜⵉⵎⵓⵣⵖⴰ)

| 1995

|Algerian Academy of Amazigh Language

|2017

| rowspan="3" |Bhojpuri

| rowspan="3" |

|Bhojpuri Academy, Bihar

|Maithili - Bhojpuri Academy, Delhi

|Bhojpuri Sahitya Academy, Madhya Pradesh

| Central Bikol

| Academia Bicolana defunct

| Bosnian

| Sandžak

| University of Sarajevo

| Breton

| Public Office for the Breton Language (Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg)

| 2010

| Bulgarian

| Institute for Bulgarian Language (Институт за български език)

| 1942

| Burmese

| Myanmar Language Commission (မြန်မာစာအဖွဲ့)

| 1963

| rowspan="2" | Catalan

| Institute for Catalan Studies (Institut d'Estudis Catalans)

| 1907

| Valencian Language Academy (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua)

| 2001

| Cebuano

| Visayan Academy of Arts and Letters (Akademyang Bisaya)

| Cherokee

| Council of the Cherokee Nation (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ)

| rowspan="4" | Standard Chinese

| State Language Work Committee (国家语言文字工作委员会)

| 1986

| Ministry of Education (教育部)

| Promote Mandarin Council (讲华语运动理事会, 推廣華語理事會)

| 1979

| Chinese Language Standardisation Council of Malaysia (马来西亚华语规范理事会, 馬來西亞華語規範理事會)

| rowspan="2" | Cornish

| rowspan="2" |

| Cornish Language Academy (Akademi Kernewek)

| 2015

| Cornish Language Office (Sodhva an Yeth Kernewek)

| rowspan="2" | Croatian

| rowspan="2" |Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics (Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje)

| rowspan="2" | 1948

| Czech

| Institute of the Czech Language (')

| 1946

| Danish

| Danish Language Council (Dansk Sprognævn)

| 1955

| Dalecarlian

| Dalarna County

| Ulum Dalska

| 1984

| Divehi

| Dhivehi Academy (ދިވެހި އެކެޑަމީ)

| 2011

| Dutch

|

| Dutch Language Union (Nederlandse Taalunie)

| 1980

| Dzongkha

| Dzongkha Development Commission ()

| 1968

| Estonian

| Institute of the Estonian Language (Eesti Keele Instituut)

| 1993

| Faroese

| Faroese Language Board (Málráðið)

| 1985

| Filipino

| Commission on the Filipino Language (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)

| 1937

| Finnish

| Institute for the Languages of Finland (Kotimaisten kielten keskus)

| 1976

| rowspan="4" | French

| rowspan="2" |

| French Academy (Académie française)

| 1635

|General Delegation for the French language and the languages of France (Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France)

| 1989

| Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium (Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique)

| 1920

| (Office québécois de la langue française)

| 1961

| Friulian

| Regional Agency for Friulian Language (Agjenzie Regjonâl pe Lenghe Furlane)

|2001

| rowspan="2" | Galician

| rowspan="2" |

| Royal Galician Academy (')

| 1906

| Galician Language Association (')

| 1981

| Georgian

| Government of Georgia ()

| German

|

| Council for German Orthography (Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung)

| 2004

| Greenlandic

| The Greenland Language Secretariat (Oqaasileriffik)

| 1998

| Greek

|

| Center for the Greek Language (Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας)

| Guarani

| Guarani Language Academy (Guarani Ñe’ẽ Rerekuapavẽ)

| 2013

| Gujarati

| Gujarat Sahitya Akademi (ગુજરાત સાહિત્ય અકાદમી)

| 1981

| Hakka

| Hakka Affairs Council (客家委員會)

|2001

| Haitian Creole

| Haitian Creole Academy (Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen)

|2014

| Hebrew

| Academy of the Hebrew Language (האקדמיה ללשון העברית)

| 1890

| Hindi

| Central Hindi Directorate (केन्द्रीय हिन्दी निदेशालय)

|1960

| Hmar

| Hmar Literature Society

| Hungarian

|

| Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics (Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont)

| 1949

| Icelandic

| Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies (Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum)

| 1962

| Igbo

| Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture

| 1949

| Indonesian

| Agency for Language Development and Cultivation ()

| 1947

| Inuktitut

| Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ)

| 1971

| Irish

|

| Irish Institute (Foras na Gaeilge)

| 1999

| Italian

|

| (Academy of the Bran)

| 1583

| Japanese

| No official centralized regulation, but de facto regulations by Agency for Cultural Affairs () at the Ministry of Education of Japan ()

| 1934 (predecessor), 2000 (current)

| Kabiye

| Kabiye Academy (Académie kabiyè)

|1975

| Kannada

| Karnataka

| Various academies and Government of Karnataka

| Kashubian

| The Kashubian Language Council (Radzëzna Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka)

|2006

| Kazakh

| Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Қазақстан Республикасының Ғылым және жоғары білім министрлігі)

|2022

| Khmer

| Royal Academy of Cambodia (រាជបណ្ឌិត្យសភាកម្ពុជា)

|1965

| rowspan="3" | Korean

| National Institute of the Korean Language (국립국어원/國立國語院)

| 1991

| The Language Research Institute, Academy of Social Science (사회과학원 어학연구소)

| China Korean Language Regulatory Commission (중국조선어규범위원회/中国朝鲜语规范委员会)

| Kven

| Kainun institutti – kvensk institutt

|2007

| Kurdish

| Kurdish Academy ()

| 1971

| Kyrgyz

| National Committee for State Language under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (Кыргыз Республикасынын Президентине караштуу Мамлекеттик тил боюнча улуттук комиссия)

|2009

| Ladin

| Istitut Ladin Micurá de Rü

| 1976

| Lao

| Educational Science Research Institute, Ministry of Education and Sports (ສະຖາບັນຄົ້ນຄວ້າວິທະຍາສາດການສືກສາ ກະຊວງສຶກສາທິການ ແລະ ກີລາ) Institute of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, National University of Laos (ສະຖາບັນວິທະຍາສາດສັງຄົມ ຄະນະອັກສອນສາດ ມະຫາວິທະຍາໄລແຫ່ງຊາດລາວ)

| rowspan="3" | Latin

| rowspan="3" |

| Pontifical Academy for Latin (Pontificia Academia Latinitatis)

|2012

| International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy: botanical Latin)

|1867

| International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: zoological Latin)

|1905

| Latvian

| Latvian State Language Center (Valsts Valodas Centrs)

| 1992

| Lithuanian

| Commission of the Lithuanian Language (Valstybinė lietuvių kalbos komisija)

| 1990

| Lusoga

| Lusoga Language Authority

| rowspan="2" | Luxembourgish

| rowspan="2" |

| Council for the Luxembourgish Language (Conseil fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch)

|1998

| Centre for the Luxembourgish Language (Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch)

|2018

| Macedonian

| Linguistics and Literary Science Department at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts

|1967

| Malagasy

| Malagasy Academy (Akademia Malagasy)

|1902

| rowspan="3" | Malay

| Institute of Language and Literature (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka)

|1956

| Language and Literature Bureau (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka)

|1960

| Malay Language Council, Singapore (Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura)

|Malayalam

|Kerala Sahitya Akademi (കേരള സാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി)

|1956

| Maltese

| National Council for the Maltese Language (Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti)

|2005

| Manx

| Manx Language Advisory Council (Coonceil ny Gaelgey)

| 1985

| Māori

| Māori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori)

|1987

|Marathi

|Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad (महाराष्ट्र साहित्य परिषद)

|1906

| rowspan="2" | Meitei (officially called Manipuri)

| rowspan="2" |

| Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation ()

|2013

| Manipuri Sahitya Parishad ()

|1935

| Mirandese

| Institute of the Mirandese Language (Anstituto de la Lhéngua Mirandesa)

| 2000

| Mixtec

| Academy of the Mixtec Language (Ve'e Tu'un Sávi)

|1997

| Khalkha Mongolian

| Council of the official state language (Төрийн хэлний зөвлөл). Decisions have to be confirmed by the Mongolian government.

| Chakhar Mongolian

| Council for Language and Literature Work

| Nepali

| Nepal Academy (नेपाल प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठान)

|1957

| Northern Frisian

| 25px North Frisia

| Northern Frisian Institute (Nordfriisk Instituut)

|1964

| Norwegian (Riksmål/Bokmål)

| rowspan="2" |

| Norwegian Academy (Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur)

| 1953

| Norwegian Bokmål Norwegian Nynorsk

| Norwegian Language Council (Språkrådet)

|2005

| Occitan

|

| Occitan Language Council (Conselh de la Lenga Occitana), Permanent Congress of the Occitan Language (Congrès Permanent de la Lenga Occitana) Institute of Aranese Studies (Institut d'Estudis Aranesi) (Aranese)

| 1996

| Odia

| Odisha Sahitya Akademi (ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏକାଡେମୀ)

|1957

| rowspan="2" | Pashto

| Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan ()

|1978

| Pashto Academy ()

|1955

| rowspan="2" |Persian

| Academy of Persian Language and Literature ()

| 1935

| Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan ()

|1978

| Paiwan

| Council of Indigenous Peoples

|1996

| Polish

| Polish Language Council (Rada Języka Polskiego)

| 1996

| rowspan="3" | Portuguese

| Lisbon Academy of Sciences (Academia das Ciências de Lisboa)

|1779

| Brazilian Academy of Letters (Academia Brasileira de Letras)

|1897

| Galician Language Association (Associaçom Galega da Língua)

|1981

| rowspan="7" |Quechua

| Academy of the Kichwa Language (Kichwa Amawta Kamachik/ Academia de la Lengua Kichwa, 'KAMAK')

|2003

| Department of Cajamarca

| Cajamarca Regional Academy of the Quechua Language (Academia Regional del Idioma Quechua de Cajamarca - ARIQ)

|1986

| Department of Cochabamba

| Cochabamba Regional Academy of the Quechua Language (Academia Regional de la Lengua Quechua de Cochabamba)

| Rohingya

| Arakan (Rakhine State)

| Rohingya Language Academy (𐴌𐴟𐴇𐴥𐴝𐴚𐴒𐴙𐴝 𐴎𐴟𐴁𐴝𐴕 𐴀𐴠𐴑𐴝𐴋𐴠𐴔𐴞)

| rowspan="2" | Romanian

| Romanian Academy (Academia Română)

|1866

| Academy of Sciences of Moldova (Academia de Științe a Moldovei)

|1961

| Romansh

| Lia Rumantscha

|1919

|Russian

|

| Russian Language Institute (Институт русского языка)

| 1944

| rowspan="2" |Scots

| Scots Language Centre (Centre for the Scots Leid)

|1993

|

| Ulster-Scots Agency (Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch)

|1999

|Scottish Gaelic

|The Gaelic Board (Bòrd na Gàidhlig)

| 2006

| Secwepemctsín

| Secwepemc Cultural Education Society

|1983

| Serbian and Montenegrin

|

| Board for Standardization of the Serbian Language (Одбор за стандардизацију српског језика)

|1997

| Sicilian

| Cademia Siciliana

|2016

| Sindhi

| Sindhi Language Authority ()

|1992

| Sinhala

| Hela Havula (හෙළ හවුල)

|1941

| Slovak

| Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovenská akadémia vied)

|1942

| Slovene

| Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti)

|1938

| Somali

|

| Regional Somali Language Academy (Akademiye Goboleedka Af Soomaaliga)

|2013

| Sorbian

|

| Sorbian Institute (Serbski institut)

|1951

| Spanish

|

| Association of Spanish Language Academies (Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española)

| 1951

| rowspan="2" | Swahili

| National Swahili Council (Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa)

|1967

| National Kiswahili Association (Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa)

|1998

| rowspan="3" | Swedish

| rowspan="2" |

| Language Council of Sweden (Språkrådet)

| 1941

|Swedish Academy (Svenska Akademien)

|1786

| Institute for the Languages of Finland (Institutet för de inhemska språken)

|Tajik

|

|Rudaki Institute of Language and Literature (Институти забон ва адабиёт ба номи А. Рӯдакии)

|1932

| rowspan="10" |Tamil

| rowspan="5" |

|Department of Tamil Development and Information, Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் வளர்ச்சி மற்றும் தகவல் துறை, தமிழ் நாடு)

|1831

|International Institute of Tamil Studies (உலகத் தமிழாராய்ச்சி நிறுவனம்)

|1970

|Tamil University (தமிழ்ப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்)

|1981

|Central Institute of Classical Tamil (செம்மொழித் தமிழாய்வு மத்திய நிறுவனம்)

|2008

|World Tamil Sangam (உலகத் தமிழ்ச் சங்கம்)

|2016

| Department of Official Languages (அதிகாரப்பூர்வ மொழிகள் துறை)

|1931

| Tamil Language Council (வளர்தமிழ் இயக்கம்)

|2000

|Malaysian Tamil Language Standardisation Council (மலேசியத் தமிழ் மொழியின் காப்பகம்)

|2019

| rowspan="2" |Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America

| rowspan="2" |1987

| Tatar

| Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (Татарстан Республикасы Фәннәр академиясе)

|1804

| Telugu

| Telugu Academy, Official Language Commission of Government of Andhra Pradesh, and Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu

| Tetum

| National Institute of Linguistics at the National University of East Timor

| Thai

| Royal Society of Thailand (ราชบัณฑิตยสภา)

| 1926

| rowspan="2" | Tibetan

| Tibet Autonomous Region

| Committee for Tibetan Language Affairs [http://www.zyw.xizang.gov.cn/xzyw]

| Committee for the Standardisation of the Tibetan Language

|Tulu

|Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy

| Turkish

|

| Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu)

| 1932

| Ukrainian

| NASU Institute of Ukrainian Language (Інститут української мови)

| 1991

| rowspan="2" | Urdu

| National Language Promotion Department ()

| National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language ()

| Urhobo

| Urhobo Studies Association

| Vietnamese

| Institute of Linguistics of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

| Võro

| Võro Institute (Võro Instituut)

| Waray

| Sanghiran san Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte (Academy of the Visayan Language of Samar and Leyte) defunct

| Welsh

| Welsh Language Commissioner (Comisiynydd y Gymraeg)

| 2012

| West Frisian

| Frisian Academy (Fryske Akademy)

|1938

| Wolof

| Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar (Center of Applied Linguistics of Dakar at the Cheikh Anta Diop University)

| Yiddish

|

| YIVO Institute for Jewish Research ()

| 1925

| Yoruba

| Yoruba Academy

| 2007

Constructed languages

Apart from the Akademio de Esperanto, most constructed languages (also called conlangs) have no true linguistic regulators or language academies.

Auxiliary languages

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" | Language

! scope="col" | Regulator(s)

| Esperanto

| Akademio de Esperanto

| Ido

| Uniono por la Linguo Internaciona Ido

| Lingua Franca Nova

| Volapük

| Kadäm Volapüka

Esperanto

Esperanto and Ido have been constructed (or planned) by a person or small group, before being adopted and further developed by communities of users through natural language evolution.

Bodies such as the Akademio de Esperanto look at questions of usage in the light of the original goals and principles of the language.

Interlingua

Interlingua has no regulating body, as its vocabulary, grammar, and orthography are viewed as a product of ongoing social forces. In theory, Interlingua therefore evolves independent from any human regulator. Interlingua's vocabulary is verified and recorded by dynamically applying certain general principles to an existing set of natural languages and their etymologies. The International Auxiliary Language Association ceased to exist in 1954, and according to the secretary of Union Mundial de Interlingua "Interlingua doesn't need its Academy".