Þegar Evrópubandalagið var stofnað árið 1957 fengu opinber tungumál stofnunarríkjanna — sex talsins — jafna stöðu; með inngöngu nýrra aðildarríkja hefur fjöldi opinberra tungumála ESB vaxið í 24, fjórfaldast frá upphafi. Að auki hafa sum tungumál sem töluð eru í aðildarríkjum, s.s. katalónska, galisíska og baskneska á Spáni, hlotið hálfopinbera stöðu.
Enska frumtextinn
The European Union (then the European Community) was founded in 1957, and it was decided that its official languages would be the six that were official in the founding member states, each accorded equal status. As new member states have joined, their official languages have been added, bringing the total to 24 official languages, four times the original number. Additionally, certain languages spoken in member states hold semi-official status, such as Catalan, Galician, and Basque in Spain.
Heimild
Evropuvefur - Eirikur Rognvaldsson, "Hver eru opinber tungumal ESB og hver er malstefna sambandsins i stuttu mali?" (Professor Emeritus of Icelandic Linguistics, University of Iceland, 2026)
Evrópuvefurinn er íslenskur fræðsluvefur um ESB-málefni; Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson er prófessor emeritus í íslenskri málfræði við Háskóla Íslands.
Skoða heimild ↗Fyrirvarar
Author cites the EU's own Languages page (https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/languages_en) and Gauti Kristmannsson's 2011 article in Ritið (vol 11, no 3, pp. 49-67). The semi-official status of Catalan, Galician, and Basque applies within Spain; these languages do not enjoy the same translation rights as the 24 official languages at EU level. The '24, four times the original' figure reflects the author's March 2026 statement.