Editing Language revitalization (section)

== Degrees of language endangerment ==
{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}

=== UNESCO's Language Vitality and Endangerment Framework ===
Uses a six-point scale is as follows:<ref>{{Cite conference |publisher=UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages |year=2003 |title=Language Vitality and Endangerment |url=https://ich.unesco.org/doc/src/00120-EN.pdf |conference=International Expert Meeting on UNESCO Programme Safeguarding of Endangered Languages |page=8 |access-date=26 September 2024 }}</ref>
* Safe: All generations use language in variety of settings
* Stable: Multilingualism in the native language and one or more dominant language(s) has usurped certain important communication context.
* Definitively Endangered: spoken by older people; not fully used by younger generations.
* Severely Endangered: Only a few adult speakers remain; no longer used as [[first language|native language]] by children.
* Critically Endangered: The language is spoken only by grandparents and older generations.
* Extinct: There is no one who can speak or remember the language.

=== Other scales ===
Another scale for identifying degrees of language endangerment is used in a 2003 paper ("Language Vitality and Endangerment") commissioned by [[UNESCO]] from an international group of linguists. The linguists, among other goals and priorities, create a scale with six degrees for language vitality and endangerment.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Language_vitality_and_endangerment_EN.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160221202039/https://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Language_vitality_and_endangerment_EN.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2016 |title=Language Vitality and Endangerment |publisher=UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages |date=March 2003}}</ref> They also propose nine factors or criteria (six of which use the six-degree scale) to "characterize a language’s overall sociolinguistic situation".<ref name=":2" /> The nine factors with their respective scales are:

# Intergenerational language transmission
#* safe: all generations use the language
#* unsafe: some children use the language in all settings, all children use the language in some settings
#* definitively endangered: few children speak the language; predominantly spoken by the parental generation and older
#* severely endangered: spoken by older generations; not used by the parental generation and younger
#* critically endangered: few speakers remain and are mainly from the great grandparental generation
#* extinct: no living speakers
# Absolute number of speakers
# Proportion of speakers within the total population
#* safe: the language is spoken by approximately 100% of the population
#* unsafe: the language is spoken by nearly but visibly less than 100% of the population
#* definitively endangered: the language is spoken by a majority of the population
#* severely endangered: the language is spoken by less than 50% of the population
#* critically endangered: the language has very few speakers
#* extinct: no living speakers
# Trends in existing language domains
#* universal use (safe): spoken in all domains; for all functions
#* multilingual parity (unsafe): multiple languages (2+) are spoken in most social domains; for most functions
#* dwindling domains (definitively endangered): mainly spoken in home domains and is in competition with the dominant language; for many functions
#* limited or formal domains (severely endangered): spoken in limited social domains; for several functions
#* highly limited domains (critically endangered): spoken in highly restricted domains; for minimal functions
#* extinct: no domains; no functions
# Response to new domains and media
#* dynamic (safe): spoken in all new domains
#* robust/active (unsafe): spoken in most new domains
#* receptive (definitively endangered): spoken in many new domains
#* coping (severely endangered): spoken in some new domains
#* minimal (critically endangered): spoken in minimal new domains
#* inactive (extinct): spoken in no new domains
# Materials for language education and literacy
#* safe: established orthography and extensive access to educational materials
#* unsafe: access to educational materials; children developing literacy; not used by administration
#* definitively endangered: access to educational materials exist at school; literacy in language is not promoted
#* severely endangered: literacy materials exist however are not present in school curriculum
#* critically endangered: orthography is known and some written materials exist
#* extinct: no orthography is known
# Governmental and institutional language attitudes and policies (including official status and use)
#* equal support (safe): all languages are equally protected
#* differentiated support (unsafe): primarily protected for private domains
#* passive assimilation (definitively endangered): no explicit protective policy; language use dwindles in public domain
#* active assimilation (severely endangered): government discourages use of language; no governmental protection of language in any domain
#* forced assimilation (critically endangered): language is not recognized or protected; government recognized another official language
#* prohibition (extinct): use of language is banned
# Community members' attitudes towards their own language
#* safe: language is revered, valued, and promoted by whole community
#* unsafe: language maintenance is supported by most of the community
#* definitively endangered: language maintenance is supported by much of the community; the rest are indifferent or support language loss
#* severely endangered: language maintenance is supported by some of the community; the rest are indifferent or support language loss
#* critically endangered: language maintenance is supported by only a few members of the community; the rest are indifferent or support language loss
#* extinct: complete apathy towards language maintenance; prefer dominant language
# Amount and quality of documentation.
#* superlative (safe): extensive audio, video, media, and written documentation of the language
#* good (unsafe): audio, video, media, and written documentation all exist; a handful of each
#* fair (definitively endangered): some audio and video documentation exists; adequate written documentation
#* fragmentary (severely endangered): limited audio and video documentation exists at low quality; minimal written documentation
#* inadequate (critically endangered): only a handful of written documentation exists
#* undocumented (extinct): no documentation exists