Languages of Texas

Languages of the US state and its peoples
Of the languages spoken in Texas none has been designated the official language. As of 2020, 64.9 % of residents spoke only English at home, while 28.8% spoke Spanish at home. Throughout the history of Texas, English and Spanish have at one time or another been the primary dominant language used by government officials, with German recognized as a minority language from statehood until the first world war. Prior to European colonization, several indigenous languages were spoken in what is now Texas, including Caddoan, Na Dené and Uto Aztecan languages.

Prior to Spanish colonization, several Native American languages such as Caddo, the language from which the state derives its name (i. e. táysha’ /tɑ́iʃɑ̀ʔ/ “friend, ally”), were spoken in present day Texas. 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 language isolates such as Coahuilteco and Cotoname, sometimes grouped under Pakawan, were once spoken in Southern Texas. Other Caddoan languages such as Wichita and Kitsai were also spoken in Northeast Texas before speakers were forced to relocate to Oklahoma. Comanche had once an important presence in the state, as did Lipan Apache, which is still spoken near the border with Mexico. Additionally, the Muskogean language Koasati has a few speakers in Livingston in Polk County. In the 17th century, speakers of Southern Tiwa relocated to Ysleta del Sur near El Paso, after the Pueblo Revolt.

Spanish was the first European language to be used in Texas, especially during the years when Texas was a province of Mexico and Spanish was the official language. Other early immigrants arriving directly from Europe such as Germans, Poles, Czechs, and Sorbs (also called Wends) also brought their own languages, sometimes establishing separate towns where their native tongues became the dominant language. Texas German and Texas Silesian are varieties of German and Silesian, a language closely related to Polish, that are indigenous to Texas. Today the dominant language in Texas, as in most states of the United States, is English.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no exclusive Texan dialect of American English. However, some linguists contest that there is a unique subset of Southern English spoken in Texas. According to the Phonological Atlas of the University of Pennsylvania virtually all native Texans speak Southern American English, while other studies claim that Texas is home to several dialects of American English. All of East Texas and usually most of central and north Texas are classified as speaking the Southern dialect, which is the same dialect being spoken in north Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and northern Alabama. Usually it is portions of far West Texas and lower South Texas that are classified as speaking a Western or Southwestern dialect. According to the University of Tampere atlas, the same Southwestern dialect is spoken in South and West Texas and southern California, extreme southern Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. The Gulf Southern dialect is spoken in most of Central, East, and North Texas with the Texas Panhandle speaking the Midland South dialect, which is shared by those who live in Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Nebraska. 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 , and Tagalog filling out the top nine most spoken languages in Texas. while other linguistic traits are being subdued into a national homogenizing trend.

Spanish has been an important language in Texas since the Spanish and Mexican periods. The Spanish dialects spoken by some Tejanos are becoming more influenced by Mexican Spanish due to a large influx of recent immigrants from Mexico. One remnant of 18th and 19th century Texan Spanish could be found in the community of Moral, west of Nacogdoches, which historically spoke a variety of Sabine River Spanish. In 1999 Rene Oliveira proposed a bill that would require all state high school students to take at least two years of Spanish; at that time actual state law stated that students could choose which foreign language to take. Did it pass? In 2003 larger numbers of Hispanics in Texas reported that they spoke only English. In August 2004, the community of El Cenizo, along the U. S. Mexico border, made Spanish its official language. Since 2007 Texas has provided yearly academic tests in both Spanish and English.

As of 2014, Vietnamese is the third most commonly spoken language, Chinese is the fourth most commonly spoken language, and Hindi is the fifth most commonly spoken language in the state. Tagalog is sixth place, and is mostly spoken in small Filipino American communities in Houston.