Puerto Rico Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Languages=== {{Main|Puerto Rican Spanish|English language in Puerto Rico}} The [[official language]]s<ref>"Official Language", ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language'', Ed. Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, 1998.</ref> of the executive branch of government of Puerto Rico<ref>Pueblo v. Tribunal Superior, 92 D.P.R. 596 (1965). Translation taken from the English text, 92 P.R.R. 580 (1965), pp. 588–89. See also LOPEZ-BARALT NEGRON, "Pueblo v. Tribunal Superior: Espanol: Idioma del proceso judicial", 36 Revista Juridica de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 396 (1967), and VIENTOS-GASTON, "Informe del Procurador General sobre el idioma", 36 Rev. Col. Ab. (P.R.) 843 (1975).</ref> are Spanish and English, with Spanish being the primary language. Spanish is, and has been, the only official language of the entire Commonwealth judiciary system, despite a 1902 English-only language law.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120426041859/http://muniz-arguelles.com/resources/The%2Bstatus%2Bof%2Blanguages%2Bin%2BPuerto%2BRico.pdf ''The Status of Languages in Puerto Rico.''] Muniz-Arguelles, Luis. University of Puerto Rico. c. 1988. Page 466. Retrieved 4 December 2012.</ref> However, all official business of the [[U.S. District Court]] for the District of Puerto Rico is conducted in English. English is the primary language of less than 10% of the population. Spanish is the dominant language of business, education and daily life on the island, spoken by nearly 95% of the population.<ref name="factfinder.census.gov2">{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US72&-context=adp&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=307&-_lang=en&-_caller=geoselect&-format= |title=U.S. Census Annual Population Estimates 2007 |publisher=Factfinder.census.gov |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170524214928/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t |archive-date=24 May 2017 }}</ref> Out of people aged five and older, 94.3% speak only Spanish at home, 5.5% speak English, and 0.2% speak other languages.<ref name=":0" /> In Puerto Rico, public school instruction is conducted almost entirely in Spanish. There have been pilot programs in about a dozen of the over 1,400 public schools aimed at conducting instruction in English only. Objections from teaching staff are common, perhaps because many of them are not fully fluent in English.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/puerto-rico-governor-fortuno-bilingual_n_1501225.html ''Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño Proposes Plan For Island's Public Schools To Teach In English Instead Of Spanish.''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831055841/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/puerto-rico-governor-fortuno-bilingual_n_1501225.html |date=31 August 2012 }} Danica Coto. Huffington Latino Voices. 05/08/12 (8 May 2012). Retrieved 4 December 2012.</ref> English is taught as a second language and is a compulsory subject from elementary levels to high school. The languages of the deaf community are [[American Sign Language]] and its local variant, [[Puerto Rican Sign Language]]. The [[Puerto Rican Spanish|Spanish of Puerto Rico]] has evolved into having many idiosyncrasies in vocabulary and syntax that differentiate it from the Spanish spoken elsewhere. As a product of Puerto Rican history, the island possesses a unique Spanish dialect. Puerto Rican Spanish utilizes many [[Taíno language|Taíno]] words, as well as English words. The largest influence on the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico is [[Canarian Spanish|that of the Canary Islands]]. Taíno [[loanword]]s are most often used in the context of vegetation, natural phenomena, and native musical instruments. Similarly, words attributed to primarily [[Niger–Congo languages|West African languages]] were adopted in the contexts of foods, music, and dances, particularly in coastal towns with concentrations of descendants of Sub-Saharan Africans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.languageeducationpolicy.org/lepbyworldregion/caribbeanpuertorico.html |title=Language Education Policy in Puerto Rico |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2013 |website=Language Education Policy Studies |publisher=International Association for Language Education Policy Studies |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-date=22 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222112048/http://www.languageeducationpolicy.org/lepbyworldregion/caribbeanpuertorico.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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