Editing Endangered language (section)

{{Short description|Language that is at risk of going extinct}}
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| caption1 = More than 50% of the world's endangered languages are located in just eight countries (denoted in red on the map): [[India]], [[Brazil]], [[Mexico]], [[Australia]], [[Indonesia]], [[Nigeria]], [[Papua New Guinea]] and [[Cameroon]]. In these countries and around them are the areas that are the most linguistically diverse in the world (denoted in blue on the map).
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| caption2 = [[Language death]] can be the result of language shift in which [[ethnic group]] members no longer learn their [[heritage language]] as their [[first language]].
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An '''endangered language''' or '''moribund language''' is a [[language]] that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is an Endangered Language? {{!}} Linguistic Society of America |url=https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-endangered-language |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=www.linguisticsociety.org |archive-date=2022-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323195210/https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-endangered-language |url-status=dead }}</ref> Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "[[dead language]]". If no one can speak the language at all, it becomes an "[[extinct language]]". A dead language may still be studied through recordings or writings, but it is still dead or extinct unless there are [[Fluency|fluent]] speakers left.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Language Death|last=Crystal|first=David|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=0521012716|pages=11|quote=A language is said to be dead when no one speaks it any more. It may continue to have existence in a recorded form, of course traditionally in writing, more recently as part of a sound or video archive (and it does in a sense 'live on' in this way) but unless it has fluent speakers one would not talk of it as a 'living language'.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_s9fR8pczMC&dq=%22A+language+is+said+to+be+dead%22&pg=PA11}}</ref> Although languages have always become extinct throughout human history, endangered languages are currently dying at an accelerated rate because of [[globalization]], [[mass migration]], cultural replacement, [[linguistic imperialism|imperialism]], [[neocolonialism]]<ref name="Handbook">{{cite book|editor-first=Peter K|editor-last=Austin|editor2-first=Julia|editor2-last=Sallabank|chapter=Introduction|title=Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages|first1=Peter K|last1=Austin|first2=Julia|last2=Sallabank|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88215-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XZRauYgO6AC&q=introduction&pg=PA1}}</ref> and [[language death|linguicide]] (language killing).<ref>See pp. 55-56 of [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]], Shakuto-Neoh, Shiori & Quer, Giovanni Matteo (2014), [http://www.professorzuckermann.com/#!native-tongue-title/cufd Native Tongue Title: Proposed Compensation for the Loss of Aboriginal Languages], ''Australian Aboriginal Studies'' 2014/1: 55-71.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=September 2021}}

[[Language shift]] most commonly occurs when speakers switch to a language [[prestige language|associated with social or economic power]] or one spoken more widely, leading to the gradual decline and eventual death of the endangered language. The process of language shift is often influenced by factors such as globalisation, economic authorities, and the perceived prestige of certain languages. The ultimate result is the loss of linguistic diversity and cultural heritage within affected communities. The general consensus is that there are between 6,000<ref name="Moseley"/> and 7,000 languages currently spoken. Some linguists estimate that between 50% and 90% of them will be severely endangered or dead by the year 2100.<ref name="Handbook"/> The [[List of languages by number of native speakers|20 most common languages]], each with more than 50 million speakers, are spoken by 50% of the world's population, but most languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.<ref name="Handbook"/>

The first step towards language death is ''potential endangerment''. This is when a language faces strong external pressure, but there are still communities of speakers who pass the language to their children. The second stage is ''endangerment''. Once a language has reached the endangerment stage, there are only a few speakers left and children are, for the most part, not learning the language. The third stage of language extinction is ''seriously endangered''. During this stage, a language is unlikely to survive another generation and will soon be extinct. The fourth stage is ''moribund'', followed by the fifth stage ''extinction''.

Many projects are under way aimed at preventing or slowing language loss by [[language revitalization|revitalizing]] endangered languages and promoting education and literacy in minority languages, often involving joint projects between language communities and linguists.<ref>Grinevald, Collette & Michel Bert. 2011. "Speakers and Communities" in Austin, Peter K; Sallabank, Julia, eds. (2011). Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-88215-6}}. p.50</ref> Across the world, many countries have enacted [[language policy|specific legislation]] aimed at protecting and stabilizing the language of indigenous [[speech community|speech communities]]. Recognizing that most of the world's endangered languages are unlikely to be revitalized, many linguists are also working on [[language documentation|documenting]] the thousands of languages of the world about which little or nothing is known.

Some widely spoken languages have endangered regional [[dialect]]s, such as the varieties of [[English language|English]] spoken on the American east coast, such as [[Eastern New England English]].