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 prescriptivedictionaries,[1] 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.
Emakeele Seltsi keeletoimkond (Language Board at the Mother Tongue Society) sets rules and standards, authoritative advice is given by the Institute of the Estonian Language (Eesti Keele Instituut)
National Committee for State Language under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (Кыргыз Республикасынын Президентине караштуу Мамлекеттик тил боюнча улуттук комиссия)
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)
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 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".[25]
These bodies do not attempt to regulate any language in a prescriptive manner and are primarily concerned with aiding and advising the government on policies regarding language usage.
Whereas a number of the puristically motivated language societies have assumed de facto responsibility for language cultivation, the decisions of the academies have often had the force of law. ... Since academies are so closely associated with the notion of purism, a brief word on their history may not be out of place. The first academy to deal expressly and exclusively with language matters was the Accademia della Crusca ... Its orientation was essentially conservative, favouring a return to the Tuscan language as cultivated in the fourteenth century over the innovations of contemporary renaissance poets such as Torquato Tasso. ... One of its first tasks -- as with so many academies to follow -- was to produce a large-scale prescriptive dictionary of Italian
^"Organizations Attached to the Department of Humanitarian Sciences and Arts". National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012. Field of Activities: ... compilation of the Belarusian language dictionaries including Belarusian – the other Slavonic languages and the other Slavonic languages – Belarusian dictionaries; ...
^"文化審議会について" [About Council for Cultural Affairs]. Agency for Cultural Affairs (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^"官制に基づく国語審議会" [About National Language Council by the Former Constitutional Government]. Agency for Cultural Affairs (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^Durston, Alan (2019). Escritura en quechua y sociedad serrana en transformación: Perú, 1920-1960. Travaux de l'Institut français d'études andines (Primera edición ed.). Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos : Instituto de Estudios Peruanos. pp. 68–69. ISBN978-612-4358-03-6.
Hong Kong: Official Language Division Civil Service Bureau Government of Hong Kong – concerned with matters concerning government language policy
Macau: Departamento dos Assuntos Linguísticos of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau of the Government of Macau –concerned with matters concerning government language policy
