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Language used at home

  • Mnemonic reference

    LANGPS11

  • Applicability

    Person

  • Type

    Primary variable

Definition

The language that a person uses at home.

Classification

Total number of categories 605

Code Name
1201 French
1202 Portuguese
1203 Spanish
1401 Russian
2001 Arabic
12001 Egyptian Arabic
12002 Maghrebi Arabic
12003 Sudanese Arabic
12004 Shuwa/Chad Arabic
12005 Hassaniyya
12101 Berber/Tamazight
12102 Tamasheq
12190 Berber (Not otherwise specified)
12301 Beja/Bedawi
13201 Nobiin
13202 Kenuzi Dongola
13290 Nubian (Not otherwise specified)
21101 Afrikaans
22001 Amharic
22002 Tigre
22003 Tigrinya
22201 Hausa
22202 Bata/Gbwata
22203 Tangale
22301 Afar-Saho
22302 Bilen
22303 Maay
22304 Oromo
22305 Rendille
22306 Sidamo
22307 Somali
22401 Wolaytta
23001 Lugbara
23002 Mangbetu
23003 Madi
23101 Dinka/Jieng
23102 Nuer/Naadh
23103 Shilluk/Cholo
23104 Acholi
23105 Lango (Uganda)
23106 Adhola
23107 Luo/Dholuo
23108 Alur
23109 Kalenjin
23110 Maasai
23111 Teso
23112 Bari-Pojulu
23113 Kakwa
23190 Lwo (Not otherwise specified)
23301 Kanuri
23401 Songhai
23901 Nama
24001 Manding/Mandenkan
24002 Manding (Bamana)
24003 Manding (Dyula)
24004 Kuranko
24005 Vai
24006 Kono
24007 Susu
24008 Mende
24009 Kpelle
24010 Soninke
24011 Loko
24101 Fulfulde-Pulaar
24102 Wolof
24103 Balanta
24104 Diola-Fonyi
24105 Limba/Yimba
24106 Temne
24107 Kisi (West Africa)
24201 Bassa (Liberia)
24202 Klao
24203 Grebo
24204 Krumen
24205 Krahn
24206 Guere
24207 Bete
24299 Kru (Not otherwise specified)
24301 Moore
24302 Gurenne
24303 Dagaare
24304 Birifor
24305 Wali
24306 Dagbani
24307 Mampruli
24308 Kusaal
24309 Buli (Ghana)
24310 Gourmanchema
24311 Bimoba
24312 Baatonum
24313 Kabiye
24314 Kasem
24401 Zande
24402 Gbaya
24403 Ngbaka
24404 Banda
24405 Sango
24406 Mbum
24407 Ebuna
24501 Izon
24502 Kalabari Ijo
24503 Kirike
24504 Ibani
24505 Nembe Ijo
24590 Ijo (Not otherwise specified)
24601 Baoule
24602 Anyin
24603 Sehwi
24604 Nzema
24605 Ahanta
24606 Akan
24607 Awutu
24608 Gonja
24609 Ga
24610 Adangme
24611 Ewe
24612 Fon
24613 Abbe
24614 Ikposo
24690 Abe (Not otherwise specified)
24701 Yoruba
24702 Itsekiri
24703 Igala
24704 Nupe
24705 Gbagyi
24706 Ebira
24707 Idoma
24708 Igede
24709 Edo/Bini
24710 Esan
24711 Urhobo
24712 Isoko
24713 Igbo
24714 Ikwere
24715 Ekpeye
24716 Emai-luleha-Ora
24717 Yekhee
24790 Igara (Not otherwise specified)
24801 Efik-Ibibio
24802 Khana
24803 Gokana
24804 Eleme
24805 Ogbia
24806 Oring
24807 Kukele
24808 Kuche
24809 Jju
24810 Tyap
24811 Ekit
24812 Abua
24813 Odual
24814 Olulumo-Ikom
24815 Eggon
24890 Ogoni (Not otherwise specified)
24901 Tiv
24902 Lamnso
24903 Bamileke
24904 Mungaka
24905 Duala
24906 Basaa
24907 Ewondo
24908 Bulu
24909 Fang
24910 Lingala
24911 Lusengo
24912 Teke
24913 Kituba
24914 Kikongo
24915 Kimbundu
24916 Umbundu
24917 Ambo/Oshiwambo
24918 Herero
24919 Luyana
24920 Luvale
24921 Chokwe
24922 Ruund
24923 Chilunda
24924 Luba
24925 Kaonde
24926 Bemba
24927 Lamba
24928 Chitonga
24929 Gusii
24930 Gikuyu
24931 Kiembu
24932 Kimeru
24933 Kikamba
24934 Chaga
24935 Namwanga
24936 Kirundi
24937 Kinyarwanda
24938 Haya
24939 Runyakitara
24940 Luganda
24941 Lusoga
24942 Lugwere
24943 Lunyole (Uganda)
24944 Masaba/Lugisu
24945 Luhya
24946 Kisukuma
24947 Kinyamwezi
24948 Gogo
24949 Mambwe-Lungu
24950 Swahili/Kiswahili
24951 Comorian
24952 Chingoni
24953 Chiyao
24954 Makonde
24955 Nyakyusa-Ngonde
24956 Tumbuka
24957 Chichewa/Nyanja
24958 Nsenga
24959 Sena
24960 Makua
24961 Shona
24962 Nambya
24963 Venda
24964 Tsonga
24965 Lozi
24966 Sotho/Sesotho
24967 Sotho (Northern)
24968 Setswana
24969 Ndebele (Zimbabwe)
24970 Ndebele (South Africa)
24971 Xhosa
24972 Siswati
24973 Zulu
24990 Ndebele (Not otherwise specified)
24991 Sotho (Not otherwise specified)
24992 Ngoni (Not otherwise specified)
24993 Konde (Not otherwise specified)
24994 Lunyole (Not otherwise specified)
24995 Nyole (Not otherwise specified)
27401 Malagasy
29001 Krio
29002 Nigerian Pidgin
29003 Kamtok
29004 Liberian English
29005 Pichinglis
29090 West African Creole English
29101 Morisyen
29102 Seselwa Creole
29201 Kabuverdianu
29202 Saotomense
29203 Angolar
29204 Fa D'ambu
29290 West African Creole Portuguese (Not otherwise specified)
29401 Bassa (Not otherwise specified)
29402 Bini (Not otherwise specified)
29403 Egbema (Not otherwise specified)
29903 Ganda (Not otherwise specified)
29905 Ngola (Not otherwise specified)
30201 Japanese
30202 Okinawan
30301 Korean
30401 Mongolian
30501 Uyghur
35201 Wa-Paraok
35301 Cambodian/Khmer
35401 Vietnamese
36001 Tibetan
36301 Jingpho
36401 Burmese
36402 Arakanese
36403 Chaungtha
36501 Karen (S'gaw)
36502 Karen (Pwo)
36599 Karen (Not otherwise specified)
36601 Mandarin Chinese
36602 Cantonese
36603 Gan Chinese
36604 Hakka
36605 Huizhou Chinese
36606 Jinyu Chinese
36607 Min Bei Chinese
36608 Min Dong Chinese
36609 Min Nan Chinese
36610 Min Zhong Chinese
36611 Pu-Xian Chinese
36612 Wu Chinese
36613 Xiang Chinese
36614 Dungan
36699 Chinese (Not otherwise specified)
37001 Malay
37002 Indonesian Malay
37003 Achehnese
37004 Minangkabau
37005 Iban
37006 Sunda
37007 Balinese
37008 Madura
37101 Bikol
37102 Cebuano
37103 Hiligaynon
37104 Waraynon
37105 Ilocano
37106 Maguindanao
37107 Maranao
37108 Pampangan
37109 Pangasinan
37110 Tagalog/Filipino
37190 Bisayan (Not otherwise specified)
37199 Philippine (Not otherwise specified)
37501 Javanese
37505 Toba Batak
37510 Bugis
37511 Makasar
37520 Tetun
37801 Hmong Dou
37802 Hmong Njua
37803 Hmu
37804 Ghao-Xong
37805 Iu Mien
37806 Biao Mon
37807 Kim Mun
37890 Hmong (Not otherwise specified)
37891 Mien (Not otherwise specified)
37901 Thai
37902 Lao
37903 Isan
37904 Shan
37910 Zhuang (Northern)
37911 Zhuang (Southern)
37990 Zhuang (Not otherwise specified)
39301 Chavacano
40101 Tamil
40102 Malayalam
40103 Kannada
40104 Telugu
40105 Tulu
40106 Kodava
40107 Gondi
40108 Duruwa/Parji
40109 Kurukh
40110 Brahui
40801 Burushaski
41801 Balochi
41901 Khowar
41902 Kohistani
41903 Kashmiri
41904 Nepalese
41905 Kumaoni
41906 Garhwali
41907 Mandeali
41908 Bhadrawahi
41909 Mahasu
41910 Sirmauri
41911 Chambeali
41912 Kulu Pahari
41913 Jaunsari
41914 Churahi
41915 Gaddi
41916 Bhateali
41917 Bilaspuri
41918 Dogri
41919 Kangri
41920 Hindko
41921 Saraiki
41922 Mirpuri
41923 Potwari
41924 Panjabi (Pakistan)
41925 Panjabi (India)
41926 Urdu
41927 Hindi
41928 Bhojpuri
41929 Maithili
41930 Magahi
41931 Chhattisgarhi
41932 Rajasthani
41933 Sindhi
41934 Kachchi
41935 Gujarati
41936 Saurashtra
41937 Bhili
41938 Marathi
41939 Konkani
41940 Bengali
41941 Sylheti
41942 Chatgaya
41943 Assamese
41944 Oriya
41945 Sinhala
41946 Maldivian
41990 Panjabi (Not otherwise specified)
41991 Bihari (Not otherwise specified)
41992 Himachali (Not otherwise specified)
41993 Pahari (Pakistan)
41994 Pahari (Not otherwise specified)
44201 English only
45001 Santali
45002 Ho
45003 Mundari
45004 Kharia
45005 Sora-Juray
45006 Korku
45099 Munda (Not otherwise specified)
45101 Khasi
46001 Dzongkha
46002 Sikkimese
46003 Sherpa
46004 Ladakhi
46005 Balti Tibetan
46101 Newar
46102 Limbu
46201 Meitei
50501 Turkish
50502 Azeri
50503 Turkmen
50504 Uzbek
50505 Kazakh
50506 Kirghiz
50507 Bashkir
50508 Tatar
50509 Chuvash
50901 Georgian/Kartuli
50910 Chechen
50920 Abkhaz
50921 Abaza
51701 Armenian
51801 Persian/Farsi
51802 Persian (Tajiki)
51803 Luri
51804 Gilaki
51805 Mazanderani
51810 Kurdish (Kurmanji)
51811 Kurdish (Sorani)
51812 Kurdish (Kermanshahi)
51813 Leki
51814 Gurani
51815 Zazaki
51820 Pashto
51890 Iranian
51891 Kurdish (Not otherwise specified)
52001 Assyrian
52002 Chaldean
52003 Hebrew
52004 Yemeni Arabic
52090 Aramaic (Not otherwise specified)
60601 Finnish
60602 Estonian
60603 Saami
60604 Erzya
60605 Moksha
60606 Komi
60610 Hungarian
60701 Basque/Euskara
61001 Welsh/Cymraeg
61002 Cornish
61003 Breton
61004 Gaelic (Irish)
61005 Gaelic (Scottish)
61006 Manx Gaelic
61090 Gaelic (Not otherwise specified)
61101 German
61102 Swiss German
61103 Luxembourgish
61104 Yiddish
61105 Dutch
61106 Frisian
61107 Scots
61110 Icelandic
61111 Faroese
61112 Norwegian
61113 Danish
61114 Swedish
61201 Italian
61202 Napoletano-Calabrese
61203 Sicilian
61204 Sardinian
61205 Corsican
61206 Galician
61207 Catalan
61208 Occitan
61209 Franco-Provencal
61210 Romansch
61211 Ladin
61212 Friulian
61213 Padanian
61214 Venetian
61215 Romanian
61290 Gallo-Italian (Not otherwise specified)
61291 Rhaeto-Romance (Not otherwise specified)
61301 Latvian
61302 Lithuanian
61401 Ukrainian
61402 Belarusian
61403 Czech
61404 Slovak
61405 Polish
61406 Kashubian
61407 Sorbian (Upper)
61408 Sorbian (Lower)
61409 Slovenian
61410 Serbian
61411 Bosnian
61412 Croatian
61413 Macedonian
61414 Bulgarian
61490 Serbo-Croat (Not otherwise specified)
61491 Yugoslav
61492 Sorbian (Not otherwise specified)
61501 Albanian (Tosk)
61502 Albanian (Gheg/Kosovan)
61503 Arvanitika
61504 Arberesh
61590 Albanian (Not otherwise specified)
61601 Greek
61901 Romani
61902 Sinti
61990 Romany (Not otherwise specified)
62001 Maltese
69501 Romany English
69502 Traveller Irish
69503 Traveller Scottish
69801 British Sign Language
69802 Irish Sign Language
69803 Sign-Supported English
69804 Sign-Supported Welsh
69805 Deaf-Blind Manual Alphabet
69806 Makaton
69807 Paget-Gorman Signs
69808 Cued Speech
78001 Nahuatl
78101 Maya (Yucatan)
78102 Mopan Maya
78103 Chol
78104 Huastec
78105 Tzeltal
78106 Tzotzil
78107 Mam
78108 Kekchi
78109 Kiche
78110 Kaqchikel
78190 Maya (Not otherwise specified)
78201 Quechua
78301 Aymara
78401 Guarani
78501 Cree
78502 Ojibwa
78503 Garifuna
78504 Carib/Kalinya
78505 Mapudungun
78801 Navajo
78901 Inuktitut
78902 Kalaallisut
79001 Bahamian Creole
79002 Gullah
79003 Leeward Islands Creole
79004 Bajan
79005 Windward Islands Creole
79006 Trinidad and Tobago Creole
79007 Guyanese Creole
79008 Sranan
79009 Jamaican
79010 Belizean Kriol
79090 Caribbean Creole English (Not otherwise specified)
79101 Haitian Creole
79102 Antillean Creole French
79103 Dominica/Saint Lucia Creole
79104 Guyanais
79105 Karipuna
79106 Louisiana Creole French
79190 Caribbean Creole French (Not otherwise specified)
79301 Papiamentu
79302 Saramaccan
85901 Arrernte
85902 Dhuwal
85903 Kalaw Lagaw Ya
85904 Murrinh-Patha
85905 Pitjantjatjara
85906 Tiwi
85907 Warlpiri
87201 Fijian
87202 Maori
87203 Samoan
87204 Tuvaluan
87205 Tongan
87301 Kiribati
87302 Marshallese/Ebon
87303 Nauruan
87501 Palauan
89001 Tok Pisin
89002 Bislama
89003 Pijin
89004 Torres Strait Creole
89005 Australian Kriol
89006 Hawaii Creole
89090 Pacific Creole English (Not otherwise specified)
89301 Hiri Motu
99090 English Creole (Not otherwise specified)
99091 English Pidgin (Not otherwise specified)
99190 French Creole (Not otherwise specified)
99290 Portuguese Creole (Not otherwise specified)
99390 Creole (Not otherwise specified)
99391 Pidgin (Not otherwise specified)
99801 International Sign Language
99890 Other Sign Language
99899 Sign Language (Not otherwise specified)
99901 Tonga (Not otherwise specified)
99902 Bari (Not otherwise specified)
99903 Batta (Not otherwise specified)
99904 Buna (Not otherwise specified)
99905 Khasa (Not otherwise specified)
99999 Any Other Language
XXXXX No code required

Source question or variables

18: Do you use a language other than English at home?

Tick all that apply.

  • No, English only
  • Yes, British Sign Language
  • Yes, other - please write in

This question has three tick boxes ‘No, English only’, ‘Yes, British Sign Language’ and 'Yes, other'. All other languages are recorded as a text field. The other languages are coded to 603 categories. The categories in this classification may have been combined within the tables.

Specifically, Gaelic, Scots and Polish have been identified as being the most frequently used (after English only) and of having special interest. The Gaelic category in tables is formed from combining the Gaelic (Scottish) and Gaelic (not otherwise specified) language codes. English, Gaelic and Scots language skills are also recorded in language skills.

Reason for asking

This information helps central government, local authorities and the NHS to allocate resources and provide services for non-English speakers, for example English teaching and translation services. It is a better indicator than country of birth, which was previously used to forecast the additional cost of providing services to people whose first language is not English. The data is also used to assess the impact of English language ability on employment and other social inclusion indicators.

The number of people using Gaelic and Scots at home is of cultural importance.

Information on the number of British Sign Language users helps with service planning and assists in developing policies to address the needs of the deaf community.

These statistics are used by public service providers to effectively target delivery of  services, for example translation and interpretation services, the availability of English language lessons and the distribution of official information leaflets in alternative languages.

England & Wales (2011) and Scotland (2001) comparisons

England and Wales 2011

18: What is your main language?

  • English
  • Other, write in (including British Sign Language)

Question 18 in England and Wales has only 2 tick boxes. Unlike Scotland there is no tick box for British Sign Language which is to be written in the text box. The question in England and Wales also relates to a person's main language.

Scotland 2001

This question first asked in 2011 and so there is no comparable question in 2001.