---
title: Language
description: Returns the language object for the given site. 
categories: []
keywords: []
action:
  related:
    - methods/page/language
  returnType: langs.Language
  signatures: [SITE.Language]
toc: true
---

The `Language` method on a `Site` object returns the language object for the given site. The language object points to the language definition in the site configuration.

You can also use the `Language` method on a `Page` object. See&nbsp;[details].

## Methods

The examples below assume the following in your site configuration:

{{< code-toggle file=hugo >}}
[languages.de]
languageCode = 'de-DE'
languageDirection = 'ltr'
languageName = 'Deutsch'
weight = 1
{{< /code-toggle >}}

Lang
: (`string`) The language tag as defined by [RFC 5646].

```go-html-template
{{ .Site.Language.Lang }} → de
```

LanguageCode
: (`string`) The language code from the site configuration.

```go-html-template
{{ .Site.Language.LanguageCode }} → de-DE
```

LanguageDirection
: (`string`) The language direction from the site configuration, either `ltr` or `rtl`.

```go-html-template
{{ .Site.Language.LanguageDirection }} → ltr
```

LanguageName
: (`string`) The language name from the site configuration.

```go-html-template
{{ .Site.Language.LanguageName }} → Deutsch
```

Weight
: (`int`) The language weight from the site configuration which determines its order in the slice of languages returned by the `Languages` method on a `Site` object.

```go-html-template
{{ .Site.Language.Weight }} → 1
```

## Example

Some of the methods above are commonly used in a base template as attributes for the `html` element.

```go-html-template
<html
  lang="{{ or site.Language.LanguageCode site.Language.Lang }}" 
  dir="{{ or site.Language.LanguageDirection `ltr` }}
>
```

The example above uses the global [`site`] function instead of accessing the `Site` object via the `.Site` notation.

Also note that each attribute has a fallback value assigned via the [`or`] operator.

[details]: /methods/page/language
[RFC 5646]: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5646
[`or`]: /functions/go-template/or
[`site`]: /functions/global/site