Endangered language
Encyclopedia
An endangered language is a language
that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language
. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language
".
The total number of languages in the world is not known. Estimates vary depending on many factors. Michael E. Krauss estimated that there were about 6,000 languages in active use, as of 2007. UNESCO
also uses this figure. Krauss goes on to define languages as "safe" if children will probably be speaking them in 100 years; "endangered" if children will probably not be speaking them in 100 years (approximately 60-80% of languages fall into this category); and "moribund" if children are not speaking them now.
One of the most active research agencies is SIL International
, which maintains a database, Ethnologue
, kept up-to-date by the contributions of linguists globally. Its 2005 count of the number of languages in its database, excluding duplicates in different countries, is 6,912, of which 32.8% (2,269) are in Asia and 30.3% (2,092) are in Africa. This contemporary tally must be regarded as a variable number within a range. Michael E. Krauss reported in 2007: "The worldwide total figure I have been using is 6,000 extant languages, a nice round figure that happens to be one millionth of the human population, a kind of middle figure ...."
UNESCO
, heavily influenced by Michael E. Krauss and Stephen Wurm
, adopted the 6,000 round figure and the "new speaker" criterion in attempting to define endangered languages.
Some languages, such as those in Indonesia
, may have tens of thousands of speakers but may be endangered because children are no longer learning them, and speakers are in the process of shifting to using the national language
Indonesian
in place of local languages.
In contrast, a language with only 100 speakers might be considered very much alive if it is the primary language of a community, and is the first (or only) language of all children in that community, actually spoken.
Asserting that "Language diversity is essential to the human heritage," UNESCO's Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages offers this definition of an endangered language: "... when its speakers cease to use it, use it in an increasingly reduced number of communicative domains, and cease to pass it on from one generation to the next. That is, there are no new speakers, adults or children."
UNESCO's online Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger categorises 2,500 languages in five levels of endangerment: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct. More than 200 languages have become extinct around the world over the last three generations.
UNESCO's Red Book of Endangered Languages
uses the classification "potentially endangered," "endangered" and "severely endangered."
and the second is language revitalization.
Language documentation is the process by which the language is documented in terms of its grammar, its lexicon, and its oral traditions (e.g. stories, songs, religious texts).
Language revitalization is the process by which a language community through political, community, and educational means attempts to increase the number of active speakers of the endangered language. This process is also sometimes referred to as language revival or reversing language shift.
Another option is "post-vernacular maintenance": the teaching of some words and concepts related to the lost language - rather than revival proper.
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language
Language death
In linguistics, language death is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language variety is decreased, eventually resulting in no native and/or fluent speakers of the variety...
. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
".
The total number of languages in the world is not known. Estimates vary depending on many factors. Michael E. Krauss estimated that there were about 6,000 languages in active use, as of 2007. UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
also uses this figure. Krauss goes on to define languages as "safe" if children will probably be speaking them in 100 years; "endangered" if children will probably not be speaking them in 100 years (approximately 60-80% of languages fall into this category); and "moribund" if children are not speaking them now.
Number of languages
The total number of contemporary languages in the world is not known. Estimates vary depending on the extent and means of the research intended to discover them, the definition of a distinct language and the current state of knowledge concerning the identities and vital statistics of the various peoples of the earth. Even the number of languages that are known varies as some of them become extinct or are newly discovered within the lifetimes of the active investigators.One of the most active research agencies is SIL International
SIL International
SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...
, which maintains a database, Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
, kept up-to-date by the contributions of linguists globally. Its 2005 count of the number of languages in its database, excluding duplicates in different countries, is 6,912, of which 32.8% (2,269) are in Asia and 30.3% (2,092) are in Africa. This contemporary tally must be regarded as a variable number within a range. Michael E. Krauss reported in 2007: "The worldwide total figure I have been using is 6,000 extant languages, a nice round figure that happens to be one millionth of the human population, a kind of middle figure ...."
UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, heavily influenced by Michael E. Krauss and Stephen Wurm
Stephen Wurm
Stephen Adolphe Wurm was a Hungarian-born Australian linguist.- Biography :Wurm was born in Budapest, the second child to the German-speaking Adolphe Wurm and Hungarian-speaking Anna Novroczky, and was christened Istvan Adolphe Wurm...
, adopted the 6,000 round figure and the "new speaker" criterion in attempting to define endangered languages.
Moribund languages
Krauss defines languages as safe if children will probably be speaking them in 100 years, endangered if children will probably not be speaking them in 100 years, and "moribund" if children are not speaking them now; He estimates 15-30% (or 900-1,800) of languages are moribund.Identification
While there is no definite threshold for identifying a language as endangered, three main criteria are used as guidelines:- The number of speakers currently living.
- The mean age of native and/or fluent speakers.
- The percentage of the youngest generation acquiring fluency with the language in question.
Some languages, such as those in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, may have tens of thousands of speakers but may be endangered because children are no longer learning them, and speakers are in the process of shifting to using the national language
National language
A national language is a language which has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy. The term is used variously. A national language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation or country...
Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
in place of local languages.
In contrast, a language with only 100 speakers might be considered very much alive if it is the primary language of a community, and is the first (or only) language of all children in that community, actually spoken.
Asserting that "Language diversity is essential to the human heritage," UNESCO's Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages offers this definition of an endangered language: "... when its speakers cease to use it, use it in an increasingly reduced number of communicative domains, and cease to pass it on from one generation to the next. That is, there are no new speakers, adults or children."
UNESCO's online Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger categorises 2,500 languages in five levels of endangerment: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct. More than 200 languages have become extinct around the world over the last three generations.
UNESCO's Red Book of Endangered Languages
Red Book of Endangered Languages
The Red Book of Endangered Languages was published by UNESCO and collected a comprehensive list of the world's languages currently facing extinction...
uses the classification "potentially endangered," "endangered" and "severely endangered."
Revival
Once a language is determined to be endangered, there are two basic steps that need to be taken in order to stabilize or rescue the language. The first is language documentationLanguage documentation
Language documentation is the process by which a language is documented from a documentary linguistics perspective. It aims to “to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given speech community”...
and the second is language revitalization.
Language documentation is the process by which the language is documented in terms of its grammar, its lexicon, and its oral traditions (e.g. stories, songs, religious texts).
Language revitalization is the process by which a language community through political, community, and educational means attempts to increase the number of active speakers of the endangered language. This process is also sometimes referred to as language revival or reversing language shift.
Another option is "post-vernacular maintenance": the teaching of some words and concepts related to the lost language - rather than revival proper.
See also
- Endangered Language FundEndangered Language FundThe Endangered Language Fund is a small non-profit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut. E.L.F. supports endangered language maintenance and documentation projects that aim to preserve the world’s languages while contributing rare linguistic data to the scientific...
- Extinct languageExtinct languageAn extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
- GOLD (ontology)GOLD (ontology)GOLD is an ontology for descriptive linguistics. It gives a formalized account of the most basic categories and relations used in the scientific description of human language....
- The Image ExpeditionThe Image ExpeditionThe Image Expedition is an American not-for-profit organization that produces multi-platform projects, which serve to photograph and document indigenous ways of life that are at risk of disappearing...
- Language deathLanguage deathIn linguistics, language death is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language variety is decreased, eventually resulting in no native and/or fluent speakers of the variety...
- Language observatoryLanguage observatoryA "language observatory" is something which is built or implemented to observe language activities in society. The need for creating such an instrument is becoming more and more evident in view of the fact that a growing number of languages are endangered....
- Language policyLanguage policyMany countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to...
- Language revitalization
- List of extinct languages
- List of notable revived languages
- Lists of endangered languages
- Native American Languages Act of 1990Native American Languages Act of 1990The Native American Languages Act of 1990 is the short cited title for executive order PUBLIC LAW 101-477 enacted by Congress on October 30, 1990. Public Law 101-477 of 1990 gave historical importance as repudiating past policies of eradicating Indian Languages by declaring as policy that Native...
- Red Book of Endangered LanguagesRed Book of Endangered LanguagesThe Red Book of Endangered Languages was published by UNESCO and collected a comprehensive list of the world's languages currently facing extinction...
- Rosetta ProjectRosetta ProjectThe Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to develop a contemporary version of the historic Rosetta Stone to last from 2000 to 12,000 AD; it is run by the Long Now Foundation. Its goal is a meaningful survey and near permanent archive of 1,500...
- The Language ConservancyThe Language ConservancyThe Language Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that provides language revitalization support to the world's endangered languages, restoring them to health and stability, and safeguarding them for future generations. The LC supports several ongoing language restoration efforts through its...
- The LinguistsThe LinguistsThe Linguists is an independent 2008 American documentary film produced by Ironbound Films about language extinction and language documentation...
(documentary film) - Universal Declaration of Linguistic RightsUniversal Declaration of Linguistic RightsThe Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is a document signed by UNESCO, the PEN Clubs, and several non-governmental organizations in 1996 to support linguistic rights, especially those of endangered languages...
Further reading
.- Hale, Kenneth; Krauss, Michael; Watahomigie, Lucille J.; Yamamoto, Akira Y.; Craig, Colette; Jeanne, LaVerne M. et al. (1992). Endangered languages. Language, 68 (1), 1-42.
- Harrison, K. David. (2007) When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge. New York and London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-518192-1.
- McConvell, Patrick and Nicholas Thieberger. (2006). Keeping track of language endangerment in Australia. Denis Cunningham, David Ingram and Kenneth Sumbuk (eds). Language Diversity in the Pacific: Endangerment and Survival. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. 54-84.
- McConvell, Patrick and Nicholas Thieberger. (2001). State of Indigenous languages in Australia - 2001 (PDF), Australia State of the Environment Second Technical Paper Series (Natural and Cultural Heritage), Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra.
- Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
- Sebeok, Thomas A. (Ed.). (1973). Linguistics in North America (parts 1 & 2). Current trends in linguistics (Vol. 10). The Hague: Mouton. (Reprinted as Sebeok 1976).
- Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human rights? Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-3468-0.