Of thelanguages spoken in Texas, none has been designated the official language. As of 2020, 64.9% of residents spoke onlyEnglish at home, while 28.8% spokeSpanish at home.^[1] Throughout thehistory of Texas, English and Spanish have at one time or another been the primary dominant language used by government officials, withGerman recognized as a minority language from statehood until thefirst World War. Prior to European colonization, several indigenous languages were spoken in what is now Texas, includingCaddoan,Na-Dené andUto-Aztecan languages.

Texas currently does not have anofficial language, although historically there have been laws giving both official status and recognition toEnglish,Spanish,German andNorwegian.

In 1834, Degree No. 270 ofCoahuila y Tejas gave both English and Spanish official status in Texas.^[2] In 1836, theProvisional Government of Texas, in establishing the Judiciary of Texas, provided that Court of Recordsmay be in English.^[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 requiring that the laws of Texas be translated intoGerman in addition toSpanish.^[6]

In 1856, an act was passed that 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.^[8]

In 1858, an act was passed requiring public schools teach primarily in English.;^[9] In the same year the law requiring the translation of Texas criminal law was briefly extended to Norwegian for two years.^[10]

In 1893, State law was passed requiring all public schools to teach exclusively in English.^[11]

In 1925, it was made a criminal offense to give instruction in Spanish in Public schools. This law was amended in 1927 to allow Spanish instruction in Elementary schools located in counties bordering Mexico with at least one city of 5,000 population.^[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 ofTejanos,Mexicans and other local and foreign Spanish-speakers.^{[citation needed]} TheGovernment 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 thatstate agencies provide information on their website in Spanish to assist residents who have limited English,^[13] and the Secretary of State since January 1842French,German,Czech, andPolish are strong minority languages due to several old communities hailing from their respective mother countries. French is most prevalent in Northeastern Texas, near Louisiana, understandably while Southwestern Louisiana Creole language is spoken in Southeastern Texas (Houston,Beaumont,Port Arthur, andOrange). German, Polish,Sorbian, and Czech are mainly spoken in Central Texas, mainly nearSan Antonio andAustin.

Prior toSpanish colonization, severalNative American languages such asCaddo, 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, withno relatives documented elsewhere, such asTonkawa,Karankawa,Atakapa, andAranama, all of which became extinct. Other language isolates such asCoahuilteco andCotoname, sometimes grouped underPakawan, were once spoken in Southern Texas.

Other Caddoan languages such asWichita andKitsai were also spoken in Northeast Texas before speakers were forced torelocate to Oklahoma.Comanche had once an important presence in the state, as didLipan Apache, which is still spoken near the border with Mexico. Additionally, theMuskogean languageKoasati has a few speakers inLivingston in Polk County.^{[citation needed]} In the 17th century, speakers ofSouthern Tiwa relocated toYsleta del Sur nearEl Paso, after thePueblo 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 asGermans,Poles,Czechs,^[14] andSorbs^[15] (also calledWends) also brought their own languages, sometimes establishing separate towns where their native tongues became the dominant language.Texas German andTexas Silesian are varieties of German andSilesian, a language closely related to Polish, that are indigenous to Texas. Today the dominant language in Texas, as in most states of theUnited States, is English.

There once were speakers ofLouisiana Creole in the area aroundBeaumont,Houston,Port Arthur, andGalveston, but it is unclear whether there are still any speakers in Texas.^[16][17]

Afro-Seminole Creole, a dialect ofGullah spoken byBlack Seminoles, was spoken inBrackettville as recently as the 1970s, but all speakers at that time were elderly and it is not known whether any speakers survive.^[18]

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.^[19] According to thePhonological Atlas of theUniversity of Pennsylvania virtually all native Texans speak^[20]Southern American English, while other studies claim that Texas is home toseveral dialects of American English. All ofEast Texas and usually most of central andnorth Texas are classified as speaking the Southern dialect, which is the same dialect being spoken in northLouisiana,Tennessee,Kentucky,Mississippi, and northernAlabama. Usually it is portions of farWest Texas and lowerSouth Texas that are classified as speaking a Western or Southwestern dialect. According to theUniversity of Tampereatlas, the same Southwestern dialect is spoken in South and West Texas andsouthernCalifornia, extreme southernNevada,Arizona andNew Mexico.^[21] The Gulf Southern dialect is spoken in most of Central, East, and North Texas with theTexas Panhandle speaking the Midland South dialect, which is shared by those who live inKansas,Missouri, and SouthernNebraska.^[21]

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Recent immigrants from otherUS regions and foreign countries are causing a linguistic shift in Texas. Spanish speakers have risen to almost a third of the population;Vietnamese andChinese^[22] have replacedGerman and French to become the third and fourth most spoken languages in Texas, respectively; withHindi,Korean,Kurdish especially fromAbtaf, from the Asad Beig tribe[1], andTagalog filling out the top nine most spoken languages in Texas.^[22] Large numbers of non-native Texas residents are picking up some dialectal traits of Southern English,^[23] while other linguistic traits are being subdued into a national homogenizing trend.^[23]

There were also several smaller language groups, includingCzechs (several thousandsMoravians) andPolish.Texas German is a dialect of the German language that is spoken by descendants of German immigrants who settled in the Texas Hill Country region in the mid-19th century.^[24]

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 byMexican Spanish^{[citation needed]} due to a large influx of recent immigrants fromMexico. One remnant of 18th and 19th-century Texan Spanish could be found in the community of Moral, west ofNacogdoches, which historically spoke a variety ofSabine River Spanish.

In 1999,René Oliveira proposed a bill that would have required 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.^[25]

In 2003 larger numbers of Hispanics in Texas reported that they spoke only English.^[26] In August 2004, the community ofEl Cenizo, along theU.S.-Mexico border, made Spanish its official language.^[27]

Since 2007 Texas has provided yearly academic tests in both Spanish and English.^[28]

As of 2014, Vietnamese is the third most commonly spoken language,^[29] Chinese is the fourth most commonly spoken language, and Hindi is the fifth most commonly spoken language in the state.^[30] Tagalog is sixth place, and is mostly spoken in small Filipino American communities in Houston.^[30]

• Culture of Texas
• Languages of Texas

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