this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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Yes there is a committee for Spanish. It’s called the Real Academia Española. Their official mission is to ensure the stability of the Spanish language across 22 hispanophone countries. I reference them daily because I don’t speak Spanish fluently yet I live in a Spanish speaking country.
I believe that English is the largest language without any sort of "official body." In France, the Académie Française has the authority to decide what is and isn't French. I believe that similar bodies exist for German and Mandarin, as well.
Right, but as all similar such committees eventually learn, there's a pretty strict limit to what they can actually control or regulate. Mostly it's just formal written usage that can be regulated. Spoken language doesn't give a shit about anyone's notions of what's considered correct or incorrect. This is one of the foundational principles of linguistics.
They've been at it since 1713 so I think they'll be ok.