Kentucky
LANGUAGE
The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000
|
|
1990 |
|
2000 |
|
|
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Only English |
3,348,473 |
97.48% |
3,627,757 |
96.07% |
Spanish |
31,293 |
0.91% |
70,061 |
1.86% |
Other Indo-European* |
39,316 |
1.14% |
51,025 |
1.35% |
Asian Language** |
12,294 |
0.36% |
21,031 |
0.56% |
Other |
3,579 |
0.10% |
6,356 |
0.17% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
3,434,955 |
100.00% |
3,776,230 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
30,842 |
44.02% |
Other Indo-European* |
15,307 |
30.00% |
Asian Language** |
10,794 |
51.32% |
Other Language |
1,928 |
30.33% |
Total |
58,871 |
1.56% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
10,890 |
34.80% |
Other Indo-European* |
11,372 |
28.92% |
Asian Language** |
6,135 |
49.90% |
Other Language |
1,026 |
28.67% |
Total |
29,423 |
0.86% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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