Languages of Texas
[3] In 1837, the Congress of the Republic of Texas passed a joint resolution directing the Secretary of State provide an official Spanish translation of general laws,[4] and the act of congress incorporating the City of San Antonio provided that public schools be erected that taught in English,[5] later in 1841 the Spanish Language law was suspended[6] for one year until being reenacted in 1842[7] In 1846, the newly admitted State of Texas enacted legislation required that the laws of Texas be translated into German in addition to Spanish.
[6] In 1856, an act was passed allowed for legal proceedings in Justice of the Peace courts in counties west of the Guadalupe River (excluding Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio) to be conducted solely in Spanish if the Judge and all parties spoke Spanish.
[12] Nevertheless, English (specifically, American English) is the language used for legislation, regulations, executive orders, treaties, education, federal court rulings, and all other official pronouncements; Spanish is also heavily spoken in Texas due to the large number of Tejanos, Mexicans and other local and foreign Spanish-speakers.
[citation needed] The Government of Texas has been required since 1837 by joint resolution of the Congress of the Republic of Texas to provide Spanish translation of laws through Section 2054.116 of the Government Code, mandates that state agencies provide information on their website in Spanish to assist residents who have limited English,[13] and the Secretary of State since January 1842 French, German, Czech, and Polish are strong minority languages due to several old communities hailing from their respective mother countries.
German, Polish, Sorbian, and Czech are mainly spoken in Central Texas, mainly near San Antonio and Austin.
A few of those languages were unique to Texas, with no relatives documented elsewhere, such as Tonkawa, Karankawa, Atakapa, and Aranama, all of which became extinct.
Other Caddoan languages such as Wichita and Kitsai were also spoken in Northeast Texas before speakers were forced to relocate to Oklahoma.
[citation needed] In the 17th century, speakers of Southern Tiwa relocated to Ysleta del Sur near El Paso, after the Pueblo Revolt.
Spanish speakers have risen to almost a third of the population; Vietnamese and Chinese[22] have replaced German and French to become the third and fourth most spoken languages in Texas, respectively; with Hindi, Korean, Kurdish especially from Abtaf, from the Asad Beig tribe [1], and Tagalog filling out the top nine most spoken languages in Texas.
[26] In August 2004, the community of El Cenizo, along the U.S.-Mexico border, made Spanish its official language.
