Editing Endangered language (section)

==Causes==
According to the ''Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages'',<ref name="Handbook"/> there are four main types of causes of language endangerment:

Causes that put the populations that speak the languages in physical danger, such as:
# [[War]] and [[genocide]]. Examples of this are the [[Tasmanian languages|languages]] of the native population of [[Tasmania]] who died from diseases, and many extinct and endangered languages of the Americas where [[indigenous peoples]] have been subjected to genocidal violence. The [[Miskito language]] in [[Nicaragua]] and the [[Mayan languages]] of [[Guatemala]] have been affected by civil war. 
# [[Natural disaster]]s, [[famine]], [[disease]]. Any natural disaster severe enough to wipe out an entire population of native language speakers has the capability of endangering a language. An example of this is the languages spoken by the people of the [[Andaman Islands]], who were seriously affected by the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]].

Causes that prevent or discourage speakers from using a language, such as:
# Cultural, political, or economic [[marginalization]] creates a strong incentive for individuals to abandon their language (on behalf of themselves and their children as well) in favor of a more prestigious language; one example of this is assimilatory education. This often happens when indigenous populations and ethnic groups who were once subject to colonization and/or earlier conquest, in order to achieve a higher social status, have a better chance to get employment and/or acceptance in a given social network only when they adopt the cultural and linguistic traits of other groups with [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)#Language structure|enough power imbalance]] to [[Acculturation|culturally integrate]] them, through various means of [[ingroup and outgroup]] coercion (see [[Endangered language#Marginalization and endangerment|below]]); examples of this kind of endangerment are the cases of [[Welsh language|Welsh]],<ref>Fulton, Helen (2012). ''Conceptualizing Multilingualism in England, c. 800 – c. 1250'', edited by Elizabeth M. Tyler, Studies in the Early Middle Ages 27, Turnhout, Brepols, pp. 145–170</ref> [[Scottish Gaelic]], and [[Scots Language|Scots]] in [[Great Britain]]; [[Irish language|Irish]] in [[Ireland]]; [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] in [[Italy]];<ref>With reference to a language shift and [[Italianization]] that first started in Sardinia under [[House of Savoy|Savoyard]] rule in the late 18th century, it is noted that «come conseguenza dell'italianizzazione dell'isola – a partire dalla seconda metà del XVIII secolo ma con un'accelerazione dal secondo dopoguerra – si sono verificati i casi in cui, per un lungo periodo e in alcune fasce della popolazione, si è interrotta la trasmissione transgenerazionale delle varietà locali. [...] Potremmo aggiungere che in condizioni socioeconomiche di svantaggio l'atteggiamento linguistico dei parlanti si è posto in maniera negativa nei confronti della propria lingua, la quale veniva associata ad un'immagine negativa e di ostacolo per la promozione sociale. [...] Un gran numero di parlanti, per marcare la distanza dal gruppo sociale di appartenenza, ha piano piano abbandonato la propria lingua per servirsi della lingua dominante e identificarsi in un gruppo sociale differente e più prestigioso.» Gargiulo, Marco (2013). ''La politica e la storia linguistica della Sardegna raccontata dai parlanti'', in ''Lingue e diritti. Lingua come fattore di integrazione politica e sociale, Minoranze storiche e nuove minoranze'', Atti a cura di Paolo Caretti e Andrea Cardone, Accademia della Crusca, Firenze, pp. 132-133</ref><ref>In a social process of radical "De-Sardization" amongst the Sardinian families (Bolognesi, Roberto; Heeringa Wilbert, 2005. ''Sardegna fra tante lingue, il contatto linguistico in Sardegna dal Medioevo a oggi'', [[Cagliari]], Condaghes, p. 29), the language shift to Italian and resulting pressure to [[Italianization|Italianize]] commonly seems to entail a general «rifiuto del sardo da parte di chi vuole autopromuoversi socialmente e [chi] si considera "moderno" ne restringe l'uso a persona e contesti "tradizionali" (cioè socialmente poco competitivi), confermando e rafforzando i motivi del rifiuto per mezzo del proprio giudizio sui sardoparlanti» (''ivi'', pp. 22-23)</ref> the [[Ryukyuan languages]] and [[Ainu language|Ainu]] in [[Japan]];<ref>{{cite book|title=Studies in Japanese Bilingualism|publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd|year=2000|pages=45–67; 68–97|editor-first1=Mary Noebel|editor-last1=Noguchi|editor-first2=Sandra|editor-last2=Fotos}}</ref> and [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]] in [[Guam]]. This is also the most common cause of language endangerment.<ref name="Handbook"/> Ever since the Indian government adopted [[Hindi]] as the official language of the [[Federal republic|union]] government, Hindi has taken over many languages in [[India]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2013/09/07/india-speaks-780-languages-220-lost-in-last-50-years-survey/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910025932/http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2013/09/07/india-speaks-780-languages-220-lost-in-last-50-years-survey|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-09-10|title=India speaks 780 languages, 220 lost in last 50 years – survey|last=Lalmalsawma|first=David|website=Reuters Blogs|access-date=2017-01-07}}</ref> Other forms of [[cultural imperialism]] include religion and technology; religious groups may hold the belief that the use of a certain language is immoral or require its followers to speak one language that is the approved language of the religion (like [[Arabic]] as the language of the [[Quran]], with the pressure for many [[North Africa]]n groups of [[Berbers|Amazigh]] or [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] descent to [[Arabization|Arabize]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Vermondo Brugnatelli|title=Non solo arabi: le radici berbere nel nuovo Nordafrica, in Limes 5 - 11|pages=258–259|year=2011}}</ref>). There are also cases where cultural hegemony may often arise not from an earlier history of domination or conquest, but simply from increasing contact with larger and more influential communities through better communications, compared with the relative isolation of past centuries.
# [[Political repression]]. This has often happened when [[nation-state]]s, as they work to promote a single national culture, limit the opportunities for using minority languages in the public sphere, schools, the media, and elsewhere, sometimes even prohibiting them altogether. Sometimes ethnic groups are forcibly resettled, or children may be removed to be schooled away from home, or otherwise have their chances of cultural and linguistic continuity disrupted. This has happened in the case of many [[Native American languages|Native American]], [[Louisiana French]] and [[Indigenous Australian languages|Australian languages]], as well as European and Asian minority languages such as [[Breton language|Breton]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]], or [[Alsatian language|Alsatian]] in [[France]] and [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] in [[Turkey]].
# [[Urbanization]]. The movement of people into urban areas can force people to learn the language of their new environment. Eventually, later generations will lose the ability to speak their native language, leading to endangerment. Once urbanization takes place, new families who live there will be under pressure to speak the [[lingua franca]] of the city. 
# [[Interethnic marriage|Intermarriage]] can also cause language endangerment, as there will always be pressure to speak one language to each other. This may lead to children only speaking the more common language spoken between the married couple.

Often multiple of these causes act at the same time. Poverty, disease and disasters often affect minority groups disproportionately, for example causing the dispersal of speaker populations and decreased survival rates for those who stay behind.

===Marginalization and endangerment===
{{main|Minoritized language}}
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| caption1  =[[Dolly Pentreath]], last known native speaker of the [[Cornish language]], in an engraved portrait published in 1781
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| caption2  =The last three native speakers of [[Magati Ke language|Magati Ke]]
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Among the causes of language endangerment cultural, political and economic [[marginalization]] accounts for most of the world's language endangerment. Scholars distinguish between several types of marginalization: Economic dominance negatively affects minority languages when poverty leads people to migrate towards the cities or to other countries, thus dispersing the speakers. Cultural dominance occurs when literature and higher education is only accessible in the majority language. Political dominance occurs when education and political activity is carried out exclusively in a majority language.

Historically, in colonies, and elsewhere where speakers of different languages have come into contact, some languages have been considered superior to others: often one language has attained a dominant position in a country. Speakers of endangered languages may themselves come to associate their language with negative values such as poverty, illiteracy and social stigma, causing them to wish to adopt the dominant language that is associated with social and economical progress and [[modernity]].<ref name="Handbook"/> Immigrants moving into an area may lead to the endangerment of the autochthonous language.<ref>Paris, Brian. The impact of immigrants on language vitality: A case study of Awar and Kayan. ''Language and Linguistics in Melanesia'' 32.2: 62-75. [http://www.langlxmelanesia.com/LLM%20Vol.%2032_2_Paris.pdf Web access] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020024118/https://www.langlxmelanesia.com/LLM%20Vol.%2032_2_Paris.pdf |date=2020-10-20 }}.</ref>

Dialects and accents have seen similar levels of endangerment during the 21st century due to similar reasons.<ref>{{cite web | last=Boaz | first=Judd | title=As Chinese dialects decline, Australia offers a safe haven for some endangered languages | website=ABC News | date=January 5, 2024 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-06/takeover-melbourne-teen-and-the-cantonese-language/103069564 | access-date=June 4, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Pomeroy | first=Ross | title=Are America's distinct accents dying out? | website=Big Think | date=September 25, 2023 | url=https://bigthink.com/high-culture/americas-accents-dying/ | access-date=June 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="m330">{{cite web | last=Economist"] | first=["The | title=Japan’s most endangered languages face extinction | website=The Economist | date=December 15, 2022 | url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/12/15/japans-most-endangered-languages-face-extinction | access-date=June 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="u493">{{cite web | last=Romero | first=Simon | last2=Rios | first2=Desiree | title=New Mexico Is Losing a Form of Spanish Spoken Nowhere Else on Earth | website=The New York Times | date=April 9, 2023 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/us/new-mexico-spanish.html | access-date=June 4, 2024}}</ref>