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$Language

is a settable global variable that specifies the default language used by the Wolfram System.

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$Language

$Language

is a settable global variable that specifies the default language used by the Wolfram System.

Details

  • $Language is used to determine the language used for messages and other system notifications.
  • All language names are conventionally given in English and are capitalized, as in "French".
  • In some cases, $Language may be set to a writing script, such as "ChineseSimplified" or "ChineseTraditional", when there are multiple writing systems for a particular language.
  • Common values for $Language include: "English", "ChineseSimplified", "ChineseTraditional", "French", "Japanese", "Korean" and "Spanish".
  • When a message with a name s::tag is requested either internally or through the Message function, the Wolfram Language searches for a message with the name s::tag::lang corresponding to $Language. Only if it fails to find such a message will it use the message with the actual name s::tag.

Examples

Basic Examples  (2)

Show the current default language:

Get the list of characters associated with the alphabet:

Wolfram Research (1991), $Language, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/$Language.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (1991), $Language, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/$Language.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1991. "$Language." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/$Language.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1991). $Language. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/$Language.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_$language, author="Wolfram Research", title="{$Language}", year="1991", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/$Language.html}", note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_$language, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={$Language}, year={1991}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/$Language.html}, note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}