Official script
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An official script is a script that is specifically designated to be official in the constitutions or other applicable laws of countries, states, and other territories.
Akin to an official language, an official script is much rarer. Obviously, its proclamation is needed only where an official language is in practice written with two or more scripts. As, in these languages, use of script often has cultural or political connotations, proclamation of an official script can have the goal of influencing culture or politics. Its desired effect can also be easing of education, communication and other aspects of life that are related to a script.
Some countries which have an official script are:
- Azerbaijan - Azeri alphabet
- Greece - Greek alphabet
- Kazakhstan - Cyrillic alphabet
- Russia - Cyrillic alphabet
- Serbia and Montenegro - Cyrillic alphabet
- Turkey - Turkish alphabet
In Russia, the designation of the Cyrillic alphabet as an official script also has the consequence that officially recognised minority languages must use it for their script when used officially (which does not necessarily have to be the case; for example, in Serbia and Montenegro minority languages use their own scripts). Some consider this to be harmful, especially in the case of Tatar language.