Languages of Puducherry - Revision history

Zoyeford: improve section and improved wording

2022-06-30T09:41:13Z

improve section and improved wording

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-{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
+#REDIRECT [[Official languages of Puducherry]]
-== 1956 Treaty of Cession ==
+{{Redirect category shell|
-[[French language|French]] was the [[official language]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] under the Treaty of Cession 1956. French was also the official language of the ''Établissements français dans l'Inde'' ([[French India]]) and it remained as [[de jure]] official language of Pondicherry U.T by the ''' ''Article XXVIII'' of [[Treaty establishing De Jure Cession of French Establishments in India|Traité de Cession]]''' which states that,
+{{R from move}}
-* ''Le français restera langue officielle des Établissements aussi longtemps que les répresentants élus de la population n'auront pas pris une décision différente''<br/>- The French language shall remain the official language of the Establishments so long as the elected representatives of the people shall not decide otherwise).
+}}

2402:3A80:545:C99D:CC4F:3DF0:F616:94A3 at 05:56, 21 March 2021

2021-03-21T05:56:46Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
The official languages of the Indian union territory of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] are [[Tamil language|Tamil]] (in ''Puducherry'' and ''Karaikal''), [[Telugu language|Telugu]] (in ''Yanam''), [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] (in ''Mahe''), [[French Language|French]] and [[English language|English]]. The ''Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965'', states under the heading "Official language of the Union territory" that [[Tamil language|Tamil]] is the language to be used for all or any official purposes in the Union Territory, while [[Malayalam]] and [[Telugu language|Telugu]] may be used in [[Mahé, Puducherry|Mahé]] and [[Yanam]] respectively. The Act also stipulates that [[Indian English|English]] may be used for any of the official purposes of the Union territory.

== 1956 Treaty of Cession ==
[[French language|French]] was the [[official language]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] under the Treaty of Cession 1956. French was also the official language of the ''Établissements français dans l'Inde'' ([[French India]]) and it remained as [[de jure]] official language of Pondicherry U.T by the ''' ''Article XXVIII'' of [[Treaty establishing De Jure Cession of French Establishments in India|Traité de Cession]]''' which states that,
* ''Le français restera langue officielle des Établissements aussi longtemps que les répresentants élus de la population n'auront pas pris une décision différente''<br/>- The French language shall remain the official language of the Establishments so long as the elected representatives of the people shall not decide otherwise).

While the Official Gazette of Puducherry has a trilingual heading (in English, Tamil and French), it is published exclusively in English.<ref>http://14.139.60.153/bitstream/123456789/10318/1/LA%20Gazette%20de%20L%27etat%20de%20pondichery%20the%20Gazette%20of%20Pondicherry%20Part%20II_HK.pdf</ref>

==Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965==
After independence, the new official languages got recognized by The Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965 (Act No. 3 of 1965)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/pondicherry/history |title=History of DISTRICT COURT OF PUDUCHERRY |access-date=2020-06-12 |url-status=live}}</ref> establishes that "''the Tamil language shall [...] be the language to be used for all or any of the official purposes of the Union Territory''. It states that ''Provided that the Administrator may by like Notification, direct that in the case of Mahe area, the Malayalam language, and in the case of Yanam area, the Telugu language may be used for such official purposes and subject to such conditions as may be specified in such notification''". Finally, it states that "''Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, and from the commencement of this Act, the English language may be used for all or any of the official purposes of the Union Territory''".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lawsofindia.org/pdf/puducherry/1965/1965Pondicherry3.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911084318/http://www.lawsofindia.org/pdf/puducherry/1965/1965Pondicherry3.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the early twentieth century, Tamil gained equal status alongside the existing French language. After the merger with India, Telugu and Malayalam also obtained the same status although with some restrictions. Though the status of each languages varies with respect to each district, when communicating in between districts of different languages, generally English is used for convenience.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sabt.org.in/npmb-india/downloads/travel-info.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402145006/http://sabt.org.in/npmb-india/downloads/travel-info.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ecourts.gov.in/pondicherry/history|title=History (Pondicherry)|publisher=District Courts of Pondicherry|accessdate=12 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402195506/http://ecourts.gov.in/pondicherry/history|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The three official languages are:<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/English-to-continue-as-link-language-in-Puducherry-Court/articleshow/42400463.cms|title=English to continue as link language in Puducherry: Court|newspaper=The Times of India|date=14 September 2014}}</ref>
#[[Tamil language|Tamil]]: Language used by the union territory government, especially used when communicating within and between the Tamil majority districts of ([[Pondicherry district|Pondicherry]] and [[Karikal district|Karaikal]]) along with issuing official decrees.
#[[Telugu language|Telugu]]: Used when communicating within Telugu district [[Yanam district|Yanam]].
#[[Malayalam language|Malayalam]]: Used when communicating within Malayalam district [[Mahé district|Mahé]].

==Demographics==
In 2001, the number of people speaking in each official languages was:
*'''[[Tamil language|Tamil]]''': 220,749 (In the Pondicherry and Karikal Districts)
*'''[[Telugu people|Telugu]]''': 31,362 (In the Yanam District)
*'''[[Malayalam]]''': 36,823 (In the Mahe District)
*'''[[French language|French]]''': Above 10,000

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.py.gov.in/ Pondicherry official website]

[[Category:Dravidian languages]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Culture of Puducherry]]