Стаття присвячена з’ясуванню змістового наповнення терміна “мовна політика” та її визначальних категорій. Проаналізована сутність мовної політики як соціолінгвістичного поняття та напряму національної політики. Основний акцент зроблений на дослідженні співвідношення базових понять цієї галузі, таких як мовна політика та мовне планування, мовне будівництво, мовний менеджмент, мовний маркетинг, державна та офіційна мови, мови національних меншин та регіональні або міноритарні мови. Окреслені основні підходи до тлумачення понять у світовій та вітчизняній соціолінгвістичній і правовій практиці.
The article is devoted to the clarification of the content of the term ‘language policy’ and its defining categories. Language policy is interpreted as a branch of national policy that embodies in the complex of ideological, political, legal, administrative, economic and educational measures, which are aimed at development of a language, expanding its functions, setting the balance between languages, changing or maintaining of language situation, solution of language conflicts etc. In the article the correlation between such concepts as language policy and language planning, language building and language management is defined. Language planning and forecasting, language building, language regulation and language management, language marketing, etc are interpreted as components of language policy. Аlso its key categories, around which language relations in the state are built, such as state language and minority language are considered. The differences between terms ‘state language’ and ‘official language’ are found out. The analisis showed that these differences have historical and cultural (existence of ethnic groups that live compactly in a certain area) and administrative (federated system or existence of autonomy in a state structure) nature. Analysis of distinction of terms ‘regional or manority language’ and ‘minority language’ in domestic studies showed that it has mostly artificial character and connected with trying to overcome the negative effects of ratification of The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The main argument for such distinction is that the first term concerns the languages that are threatened with extinction. The article shows that European practice does not know such distinction and that confirmation that the Charter relates only to threatened languages is in its text, and not in the content of these terms. Thus in the article the essence of language policy as a sociolinguistic concept and direction of national policy is analyzed. The main emphasis is on the study of the relation between basic concepts in the field, such as language policy and language planning, language construction, language management, language marketing, state and official languages, languages of national minorities and regional or minority languages. The main approaches to their interpretation in the world and in particular in the national sociolinguistic and legal practice are outlined.
