Editing Endangered language

{{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]].

==Number of languages==
The total number of contemporary languages in the world is not known, and it is not well defined what constitutes a separate language as opposed to a dialect. Estimates vary depending on the extent and means of the research undertaken, and the definition of a distinct language and the current state of knowledge of remote and isolated language communities. The number of known languages varies over time as some of them become extinct and others are newly discovered. An accurate number of languages in the world was not yet known until the use of universal, [[systematic survey]]s in the later half of the twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Language Death|last=Crystal|first=David|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=0521012716|location=England|pages=3|quote=As a result, without professional guidance, figures in popular estimation see-sawed wildly, from several hundred to tens of thousands. It took some time for systematic surveys to be established. Ethnologue, the largest present-day survey, first attempted a world-wide review only in 1974, an edition containing 5,687 languages.}}</ref> The majority of linguists in the early twentieth century refrained from making estimates. Before then, estimates were frequently the product of guesswork and very low.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Language Death|last=Crystal|first=David|publisher=Cambridge|year=2000|isbn=0521653215|pages=3}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |author=Grenoble, Lenore A.  |author2=Lindsay J. Whaley |year=1998 |chapter=Preface |chapter-url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/91027/frontmatter/9780521591027_frontmatter.pdf |pages=xi–xii|title=Endangered languages: Current Issues and Future Prospects.|editor=Lenore A. Grenoble|editor2=Lindsay J. Whaley |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-59102-3}}</ref>

Ethnologue's 2005 count of languages in its database, excluding duplicates in different countries, was 6,912, of which 32.8% (2,269) were in Asia, and 30.3% (2,092) in Africa.<ref>{{cite web|title=Statistical Summaries|work=Ethnologue Web Version|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=area|publisher=SIL International|year=2009|access-date=26 April 2009}}</ref> This contemporary tally must be regarded as a variable number within a range. Areas with a particularly large number of languages that are nearing extinction include: [[Eastern Siberia]],{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} [[Central Siberia]], [[Northern Australia]], [[Central America]], and the [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|Northwest Pacific Plateau]]. Other hotspots are [[Oklahoma]] and the [[Southern Cone]] of South America.

===Endangered sign languages===
Almost all of the study of language endangerment has been with spoken languages. A UNESCO study of endangered languages does not mention sign languages.<ref>[http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_index.html Endangered languages in Europe: indexes<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, some [[sign language]]s are also endangered, such as [[Alipur Sign Language|Alipur Village Sign Language]] (AVSL) of India,<ref>[http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/avsl-59168 ELAR – The Endangered Languages Archive<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Adamorobe Sign Language]] of Ghana, [[Ban Khor Sign Language]] of Thailand, and [[Plains Indian Sign Language]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pislresearch.com/ |title=Hand Talk: American Indian Sign Language |access-date=2017-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024164112/http://pislresearch.com/ |archive-date=2014-10-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Hederpaly, Donna. ''[http://helenair.com/lifestyles/article_da41d7a8-a6a4-11df-9ff4-001cc4c03286.html Tribal "hand talk" considered an endangered language]'' Billings Gazette, August 13, 2010</ref> Many sign languages are used by small communities; small changes in their environment (such as contact with a larger sign language or dispersal of the deaf community) can lead to the endangerment and loss of their traditional sign language. Methods are being developed to assess the vitality of sign languages.<ref>Bickford, J. Albert, M. Paul Lewis, Gary F. Simons. 2014. Rating the vitality of sign languages. ''Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development'' 36(5):1-15.</ref>

==Defining and measuring endangerment==
[[File:Lang_Status_List.svg|thumb|right|How UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger classifies languages]]
While there is no definite threshold for identifying a language as endangered, [[UNESCO]]'s 2003 document entitled ''Language vitality and endangerment''<ref name="UNESCO 6000" /> outlines nine factors for determining language vitality:
# Intergenerational language transmission
# Absolute number of speakers
# Proportion of speakers existing within the total (global) population
# Language use within existing contexts and domains
# Response to language use in new domains and media
# Availability of materials for language education and literacy
# Government and institutional language policies
# Community attitudes toward their language
# Amount and quality of documentation
Many languages, for example some in [[Indonesia]], have tens of thousands of speakers but are endangered because children are no longer learning them, and speakers are shifting to using the [[national language]] (e.g. [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]) in place of local languages. In contrast, a language with only 500 speakers might be considered very much alive if it is the primary language of a community, and is the first (or only) spoken language of all children in that community.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

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."<ref name="UNESCO 6000">{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/doc/src/00120-EN.pdf|title=Language Vitality and Endangerment|year=2003|access-date=12 August 2016|author=UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages}}</ref>

{{anchor|UNESCO definitions}}<!-- incoming links to here -->UNESCO operates with four levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct" (no living speakers), based on intergenerational transfer: "vulnerable" (not spoken by children outside the home), "definitely endangered" (children not speaking), "severely endangered" (only spoken by the oldest generations), and "critically endangered" (spoken by few members of the oldest generation, often [[Speaker types|semi-speaker]]s).<ref name="Moseley">{{cite book
 | editor-last=Moseley
 | editor-first=Christopher
 | year=2010
 | title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
 | edition=3rd
 | location=Paris
 | publisher=UNESCO Publishing
 | url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/atlas-of-languages-in-danger/
 | series=Memory of Peoples
 | isbn=978-92-3-104096-2
 | access-date=2018-05-15
}}</ref>
UNESCO's ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' categorises 2,473 languages by level of endangerment.<ref>{{cite web|title=UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas/|year=2010|access-date=15 May 2018|publisher=UNESCO}}</ref>

Using an alternative scheme of classification, linguist [[Michael E. Krauss]] defines languages as "safe" if it is considered that 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.<ref name=K2007>{{Cite book|last =Krauss| first =Michael E.| author-link =Michael E. Krauss| editor-last =Miyaoka| editor-first=Osahito | editor2-last= Sakiyama| editor2-first=Osamu | editor3-first=Michael E.|editor3-last=Krauss|year =2007| contribution = Keynote – Mass Language Extinction and Documentation: The Race Against Time| title =The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim| edition =illustrated| place =Oxford| publisher =Oxford University Press|pages=3–24| id =9780199266623| isbn =978-0199266623}}</ref>

Many scholars have devised techniques for determining whether languages are endangered. One of the earliest is GIDS (Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale) proposed by [[Joshua Fishman]] in 1991.<ref>Fishman, Joshua. 1991. ''Reversing Language Shift''. Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.</ref> In 2011 an entire issue of ''[[Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development]]'' was devoted to the study of ethnolinguistic vitality, Vol. 32.2, 2011, with several authors presenting their own tools for measuring language vitality. A number of other published works on measuring language vitality have been published, prepared by authors with varying situations and applications in mind.<ref>Dwyer, Arienne M. 2011. [http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/7109/1/Dwyer2011_AssessRevitalize.pdf Tools and techniques for endangered-language assessment and revitalization]</ref><ref>Ehala, Martin. 2009. An Evaluation Matrix for Ethnolinguistic Vitality. In Susanna Pertot, Tom Priestly & Colin Williams (eds.), ''Rights, promotion and integration issues for minority languages in Europe'', 123–137. Houndmills: PalgraveMacmillan.</ref><ref>M. Lynne Landweer. 2011. Methods of Language Endangerment Research: A Perspective from Melanesia. ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' 212: 153–178.</ref><ref>Lewis, M. Paul & Gary F. Simons. 2010. Assessing Endangerment: Expanding Fishman's GIDS. ''Revue Roumaine de linguistique'' 55(2). 103–120. [http://www-01.sil.org/~simonsg/preprint/EGIDS.pdf Online version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227211312/http://www-01.sil.org/~simonsg/preprint/EGIDS.pdf |date=2015-12-27 }}</ref><ref>Lee, Nala Huiying, and John Van Way. 2016. [https://www.academia.edu/4027666/Assessing_levels_of_endangerment_in_the_Catalogue_of_Endangered_Languages_ELCat_using_the_Language_Endangerment_Index_LEI_ Assessing levels of endangerment in the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat) using the Language Endangerment Index (LEI).] Language in Society 45(02):271-292.</ref><ref>ELDIA EuLaViBar Toolkit, https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:301101</ref>

==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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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>

==Effects==
Language endangerment affects both the languages themselves and the people that speak them. This also affects the essence of a culture. 

===Effects on communities===
As communities lose their language, they often lose parts of their cultural traditions that are tied to that language. Examples include songs, myths, poetry, local remedies, ecological and geological knowledge, as well as language behaviors that are not easily translated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/four-things-happen-when-language-dies-and-one-thing-you-can-do-help-180962188/|title=Four Things That Happen When a Language Dies|last=Eschner|first=Kat|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> Furthermore, the social structure of one's community is often reflected through speech and language behavior. This pattern is even more prominent in dialects. This may in turn affect the sense of identity of the individual and the community as a whole, producing a weakened social cohesion as their values and traditions are replaced with new ones. This is sometimes characterized as [[anomie]]. Losing a language may also have political consequences as some countries confer different political statuses or privileges on minority ethnic groups, often defining ethnicity in terms of language. In turn, communities that lose their language may also lose political legitimacy as a community with special [[collective rights]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Language can also be considered as scientific knowledge in topics such as medicine, philosophy, botany, and more. It reflects a community's practices when dealing with the environment and each other. When a language is lost, this knowledge is often lost as well.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Guérin|first1=Valérie|last2=Yourupi|first2=Paulina|year=2017|chapter=Language Endangerment|title=Languages of the Pacific Islands: Introductory Readings|editor1=Hiroko Sato|editor2=Joel Bradshaw|edition=2nd|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing|pages=209–219|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/43876728}}</ref><!---Bad publishing venue, yes, but editors and authors of the volume are reputed mainstream scholars--->

In contrast, language revitalization is correlated with better health outcomes in indigenous communities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Whalen|first1=D. H.|last2=Moss|first2=Margaret|last3=Baldwin|first3=Daryl|title=Healing through language: Positive physical health effects of indigenous language use|journal=F1000Research|date=9 May 2016|volume=5|pages=852|doi=10.12688/f1000research.8656.1|url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=gc_pubs|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Effects on languages===
During language loss—sometimes referred to as ''obsolescence'' in the linguistic literature—the language that is being lost generally undergoes changes as speakers make their language more similar to the language that they are shifting to. For example, gradually losing grammatical or phonological complexities that are not found in the dominant language.<ref>[[Nancy Dorian|Dorian, Nancy]] C. 1978. The Fate of Morphological Complexity in Language Death: Evidence from East Sutherland Gaelic. ''Language'' Vol. 54, No. 3: 590–609.</ref><ref>Schmidt, Annette. 1985. "The Fate of Ergativity in Dying Dyirbal". ''Language'' Vol. 61, No. 2: 378–396.</ref>

===Ethical considerations and attitudes===
Generally the accelerated pace of language endangerment is considered to be a problem by linguists and by the speakers. However, some linguists, such as the phonetician [[Peter Ladefoged]], have argued that language death is a natural part of the process of human cultural development, and that languages die because communities stop speaking them for their own reasons. Ladefoged argued that linguists should simply document and describe languages scientifically, but not seek to interfere with the processes of language loss.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ladefoged |first1=Peter |title=Another view of endangered languages |journal=Language |date=1992 |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=809–811 |doi=10.1353/lan.1992.0013 |jstor=416854|s2cid=144984900 }}</ref> A similar view has been argued at length by linguist [[Salikoko Mufwene]], who sees the cycles of language death and emergence of new languages through [[Creole language|creolization]] as a continuous ongoing process.<ref>Mufwene, Salikoko (2004). "Language birth and death". Annual Review of Anthropology 33: 201–222.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mufwene |first1=Salikoko S. |title=The Ecology of Language Evolution |date=30 August 2001 |publisher=Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511612862 |isbn=0-511-01934-3}}</ref><ref>Mufwene, Salikoko (2008). Language Evolution: Contact, Competition and Change. Continuum International Publishing Group.</ref>

A majority of linguists do consider that language loss is an ethical problem, as they consider that most communities would prefer to maintain their languages if given a real choice. They also consider it a scientific problem, because language loss on the scale currently taking place will mean that future linguists will only have access to a fraction of the world's linguistic diversity, therefore their picture of what human language is—and can be—will be limited.<ref>Hale, Krauss, Watahomigie, Yamamoto, Craig, & Jeanne 1992</ref><ref>Austin & Sallabank 2011</ref><ref>Nettle & Romaine 2000</ref><ref>Skuttnabb-Kangas 2000</ref><ref>Austin 2009</ref>

Some linguists consider linguistic diversity to be analogous to biological diversity, and compare language endangerment to [[Endangered species|wildlife endangerment]].<ref>Maffi L, ed. 2001. On Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge, and the Environment. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Inst. Press</ref>

== Response ==
Linguists, members of endangered language communities, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations such as UNESCO and the European Union are actively working to save and stabilize endangered languages.<ref name="Handbook"/>  Once a language is determined to be endangered, there are three steps that can be taken in order to stabilize or rescue the language. The first is language documentation, the second is language revitalization and the third is language maintenance.<ref name="Handbook" />

[[Language documentation]] is the documentation in writing and audio-visual recording of [[grammar]], vocabulary, and oral traditions (e.g. stories, songs, religious texts) of endangered languages. It entails producing descriptive grammars, collections of texts and dictionaries of the languages, and it requires the establishment of a secure archive where the material can be stored once it is produced so that it can be accessed by future generations of speakers or scientists.<ref name="Handbook" />

[[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.<ref name="Handbook" /> This process is also sometimes referred to as [[language revitalization|language revival or reversing language shift]].<ref name="Handbook" /> For case studies of this process, see Anderson (2014).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Saving Endangered Languages Before They Disappear|url=https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/saving-endangered-languages-before-they-disappear/|access-date=2020-08-22|website=The Solutions Journal|date=21 February 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref> Applied linguistics and education are helpful in revitalizing endangered languages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Gregory D. S.|date=2011|title=Language Hotspots: what (applied) linguistics and education should do about language endangerment in the twenty-first century.|journal=Language and Education|volume=25|issue=4|pages=273–289|doi=10.1080/09500782.2011.577218|s2cid=145802559}}</ref> Vocabulary and courses are available online for a number of endangered languages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reviews of Language Courses|url=http://lang1234.com|publisher=Lang1234|access-date=11 Sep 2012}}</ref>

Language maintenance refers to the support given to languages that need for their survival to be protected from outsiders who can ultimately affect the number of speakers of a language.<ref name="Handbook" /> UNESCO seeks to prevent language extinction by promoting and supporting the language in education, culture, communication and information, and science.<ref>{{cite web|title=FAQ on endangered languages {{!}} United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/faq-on-endangered-languages/|website=www.unesco.org|access-date=25 January 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Another option is "post-vernacular maintenance": the teaching of some words and concepts of the lost language, rather than revival proper.<ref>{{cite news
 | author=Zuckermann, Ghil'ad
 | author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann
 | url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25980525-25192,00.html
 | title=Aboriginal Languages Deserve Revival
 | publisher=The Australian Higher Education
 | date=August 26, 2009
 | access-date=September 5, 2009
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923233756/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25980525-25192,00.html
 | archive-date=September 23, 2009
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

As of June 2012 the United States has a [[J-1 visa|J-1 specialist visa]], which allows indigenous language experts who do not have academic training to enter the U.S. as experts aiming to share their knowledge and expand their skills.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian – George Gustav Heye Center, New York
| access-date = 2012-03-25
| url = http://nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/introduction/129169.html
}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Languages}}
* [[Lists of endangered languages]]
* [[Language death]]
* [[List of endangered languages with mobile apps]]
* [[Lists of extinct languages]]
* [[List of languages by time of extinction]]
* [[List of revived languages]]
* ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Olko |editor-first1=Justyna |editor-last2=Sallabank |editor-first2=Julia |title=Revitalizing Endangered Languages: A Practical Guide |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/revitalizing-endangered-languages/ADCBBA31190F259BA13525C769E92A9A |year=2021 |isbn=9781108641142 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}
* {{cite book|last=Abley|first=Mark|year=2003|title=Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages|location=London |publisher=Heinemann}}
* {{cite book|last=Crystal|first=David|year=2000|title=Language Death|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521012713}}
* {{Cite book|last=Evans|first=Nicholas|year=2001|contribution=The Last Speaker is Dead – Long Live the Last Speaker! |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Newman |editor2-first=Martha |editor2-last=Ratliff|title=Linguistic Field Work|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=250–281}}.
* 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}}.
* {{cite book|last1=McConvell|first1=Patrick|last2=Thieberger|first2=Nicholas|year=2006|contribution=Keeping Track of Language Endangerment in Australia|editor-first=Denis|editor-last=Cunningham|editor2-first=David|editor2-last=Ingram|editor3-first=Kenneth|editor3-last=Sumbuk|title=Language Diversity in the Pacific: Endangerment and Survival|location=Clevedon, UK|publisher=Multilingual Matters|pages=54–84|isbn=1853598674}}
* McConvell, Patrick and Thieberger, Nicholas. 2001. [http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/technical/indigenous-languages.html 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.
* Nettle, Daniel and Romaine, Suzanne. 2000. Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* {{cite book|last=Skutnabb-Kangas|first=Tove|year=2000|title=Linguistic Genocide in Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights?|location=Mahwah, New Jersey|author-link=Tove Skutnabb-Kangas|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|isbn=0-8058-3468-0}}
* [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] and Walsh, Michael. 2011.  [https://adelaide.academia.edu/Zuckermann/Papers/267186/Stop_Revive_Survive_Lessons_from_the_Hebrew_Revival_Applicable_to_the_Reclamation_Maintenance_and_Empowerment_of_Aboriginal_Languages_and_Cultures 'Stop, Revive, Survive: Lessons from the Hebrew Revival Applicable to the Reclamation, Maintenance and Empowerment of Aboriginal Languages and Cultures'], ''Australian Journal of Linguistics'' Vol. 31, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;111–127.
*{{cite book|editor-first=Peter K|editor-last=Austin|editor1-link=Peter Austin (linguist)| editor2-first=Julia|editor2-last=Sallabank|title=Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88215-6}}
*Fishman, Joshua. 1991. ''Reversing Language Shift''. Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.
*Ehala, Martin. 2009. An Evaluation Matrix for Ethnolinguistic Vitality. In Susanna Pertot, Tom Priestly & Colin Williams (eds.), ''Rights, Promotion and Integration Issues for Minority Languages in Europe'', 123–137. Houndmills: PalgraveMacmillan.
* Landweer, M. Lynne. 2011. Methods of Language Endangerment Research: a Perspective from Melanesia. ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' 212: 153–178.
*Lewis, M. Paul & Gary F. Simons. 2010. Assessing Endangerment: Expanding Fishman's GIDS. ''Revue Roumaine de linguistique'' 55(2). 103–120. [https://web.archive.org/web/20151227211312/http://www-01.sil.org/~simonsg/preprint/EGIDS.pdf Online version of the article.]
*Hinton, Leanne and Ken Hale (eds.) 2001. The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
*Gippert, Jost; Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. and Mosel, Ulrike (eds.) 2006. Essentials of Language Documentation (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 178). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
*Fishman, Joshua. 2001a. Can Threatened Languages be Saved? Reversing Language Shift, Revisited: A 21st Century Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
* Dorian, Nancy. 1981. Language Death: The Life Cycle of a Scottish Gaelic Dialect. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
*Campbell, Lyle and Muntzel, Martha C.. 1989. The Structural Consequences of Language Death. In Dorian, Nancy C. (ed.), Investigating Obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death, 181–96. Cambridge University Press.
*Boas, Franz. 1911. Introduction. In Boas, Franz (ed.) Handbook of American Indian Languages Part I (Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 40), 1–83. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
*Austin, Peter K. (ed.). 2009. One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost. London: Thames and Hudson and Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
*"One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered and Lost", edited by Peter K. Austin. University of California Press (2008) http://www.economist.com/node/12483451.
*Whalen, D. H., & Simons, G. F. (2012). Endangered language families. ''Language'', ''88''(1), 155–173.

== Further reading ==
{{Wikiquote|Endangered languages}}
* {{cite web|title=Endangered Languages at the UNESCO Official Website|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909103412/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/|archive-date=September 9, 2016}}
* {{cite web|title=Endangered languages: the full list |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered |website=the Guardian |language=en |date=15 April 2011}} Static list and spreadsheet of UNESCO Data.
* {{cite web|title=Endangered Language Resources at the LSA|url=http://www.linguisticsociety.org/endangered-languages}}
*[http://www.rnld.org/ Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity]
* [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/ Endangered Languages Project]
* {{cite web|title=Endangered Languages: Information and Resources on Dying Languages|url=http://www.endangered-languages.com|first=Rio|last=Akasaka|author2=Machael Shin|author3=Aaron Stein|year=2008|publisher=Endangered-Languages.com|access-date=12 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124171254/http://endangered-languages.com/|archive-date=24 November 2018|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.ydli.org/biblios/endlabib.htm|title=Bibliography of Materials on Endangered Languages|publisher=Yinka Déné Language Institute (YDLI)|year=2006|access-date=12 April 2009}}
* {{cite web|url=http://quarterlyconversation.com/constant/peter-constantine-on-arvanitika-is-there-hope-for-europe%E2%80%99s-endangered-native-tongues|title=Is There Hope for Europe's Endangered Native Tongues?|first=Peter|last=Constantine|publisher=The Quarterly Conversation|year=2010|access-date=2010-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624084741/http://quarterlyconversation.com/constant/peter-constantine-on-arvanitika-is-there-hope-for-europe%E2%80%99s-endangered-native-tongues|archive-date=2010-06-24|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.sil.org/sociolx/ndg-lg-home.html|title=Endangered languages|publisher=[[SIL International]]|year=2009|access-date=12 April 2009}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/linguistics/wp/2003Headland.PDF |title=Thirty Endangered Languages in the Philippines|first=Thomas N.|last=Headland|publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics|location=Dallas, Texas|year=2003}}
* {{cite web|title=Interviews on Endangered Languages|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/tailenders/special_languages.html|first=Adele|last=Horne|author2=Peter Ladefoged|author3=Rosemary Beam de Azcona|year=2006|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)|location=Arlington, Virginia|access-date=26 April 2009|archive-date=7 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207134613/http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/tailenders/special_languages.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/endangered.jsp|title=A Special Report: Endangered Languages|first=Elizabeth|last=Malone|author2=Nicole Rager Fuller|year=2008|publisher=National Science Foundation|access-date=26 April 2009|archive-date=9 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309151300/http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/endangered.jsp|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|title=Nearly Extinct Languages|url=http://emeld.org/features/get-nearly-extinct.cfm|publisher=Electronic Metadata for Endangered Languages Data (E-MELD)|date=2001–2008|access-date=2009-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726031829/http://emeld.org/features/get-nearly-extinct.cfm|archive-date=2011-07-26|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/rf.html|chapter=Minority Languages in a Society in Turmoil: The Case of the Northern Languages of the Russian Federation|title=Endangered Languages: What Role for the Specialist? Proceedings of the Second FEL Conference|publisher=Foundation for Endangered Languages & Helsinki University|edition=new| year=1998|first=Tapani|last=Salminen|editor-first=Nicholas|editor-last=Ostler|location=Edinburgh|pages=58–63}}
* {{ cite web|url=http://www.livingtongues.org/papers.html|title=Selected Descriptive, Theoretical and Typological Papers (index)| publisher=Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages|date=1997–2007|access-date=25 April 2009}}
*{{Cite web
| title = Winona LaDuke Speaks on Biocultural Diversity, Language and Environmental Endangerment
| work = The UpTake
| access-date = 2012-08-08
| date = 2012-03-29
| url = http://www.theuptake.org/2012/03/29/live-winona-laduke-speaks-on-biocultural-diversity-language-and-environmental-endangerment/
| archive-date = 2015-08-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150807113006/http://theuptake.org/2012/03/29/live-winona-laduke-speaks-on-biocultural-diversity-language-and-environmental-endangerment/
| url-status = dead
}}

=== Organizations ===
* [http://www.linguisticsociety.org/endangered-languages Linguistic Society of America]
* [http://www.hrelp.org Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project]
* [https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12816&org=BCS Documenting Endangered Languages], National Science Foundation
* [http://www.saivus.org Society to Advance Indigenous Vernaculars of the United States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227063740/http://www.saivus.org/ |date=2012-02-27 }}, (Savius.org)
* [http://aicls.org/ Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival]
* [http://www.ilinative.org/ Indigenous Language Institute]
* [http://icldc-hawaii.org International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation]
* [http://www.sorosoro.org/en/ Sorosoro]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101012205100/http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/enduring-voices Enduring Voices Project], National Geographic
* [http://www.livingtongues.org/hotspots.html Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120726021219/http://endangeredlanguagealliance.org/main/ Endangered Language Alliance], New York City
* [[Endangered Languages Project]]
* [http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/ DoBeS Documentation of endangered languages]
* [http://www.cilldi.ualberta.ca/ CILLDI, Canadian Indigenous Languages Literacy and Development Institute]

=== Technologies ===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwLNc-QFUlE&list=UUQElH-OXARO_PycfKd6HPUg&index=1&feature=plcp Recording your elder/Native speaker], practical vocal recording tips for non-professionals
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAUgc5hHAHU&list=UUQElH-OXARO_PycfKd6HPUg&index=9&feature=plcp Learning indigenous languages on Nintendo]
* [http://aicls.org/ Pointers on How to Learn Your Language] (scroll to link on page)
* [http://www.firstvoices.com/en/apps First Nations endangered languages chat applications]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160306100131/http://www.aicls.org/breathoflife/talks.php Do-it-yourself grammar and reading in your language], Breath of Life 2010 presentations
* [https://giellalt.github.io/ Open infrastructure for building language models and tools (spellers etc.) for languages with complex grammars and (next to) no text corpora]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endangered Language}}
[[Category:Endangered languages| ]]