Languages of Puducherry

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

1956 Treaty of Cession[edit]

French was the official language of 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 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
    - 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.[1]

Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965[edit]

After independence, the new official languages got recognized by The Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965 (Act No. 3 of 1965)[2] 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".[3]

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.[4][5] The three official languages are:[6]

  1. Tamil: Language used by the union territory government, especially used when communicating within and between the Tamil majority districts of (Pondicherry and Karaikal) along with issuing official decrees.
  2. Telugu: Used when communicating within Telugu district Yanam.
  3. Malayalam: Used when communicating within Malayalam district Mahé.

Demographics[edit]

In 2001, the number of people speaking in each official languages was:

  • Tamil: 220,749 (In the Pondicherry and Karikal Districts)
  • Telugu: 31,362 (In the Yanam District)
  • Malayalam: 36,823 (In the Mahe District)
  • French: Above 10,000

References[edit]

  1. ↑ http://14.139.60.153/bitstream/123456789/10318/1/LA%20Gazette%20de%20L%27etat%20de%20pondichery%20the%20Gazette%20of%20Pondicherry%20Part%20II_HK.pdf
  2. ↑ "History of DISTRICT COURT OF PUDUCHERRY". Retrieved 12 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ "History (Pondicherry)". District Courts of Pondicherry. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "English to continue as link language in Puducherry: Court". The Times of India. 14 September 2014.

External links[edit]

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