Lists of endangered languages facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Language Endangerment Status
by UNESCO Atlas of the World’s
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| Extinct (EX) | |
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| Endangered | |
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Related topics
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 UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger categories |
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Imagine a language disappearing forever! An endangered language is a language that is at risk of vanishing because very few people speak it. Experts believe that nearly half of all languages spoken today could be lost in less than 100 years. This means unique ways of thinking and understanding the world could disappear too. Organizations like UNESCO help us understand which languages are in danger.
Contents
What Makes a Language Endangered?
A language becomes endangered when fewer and fewer people learn and use it. This often happens when younger generations stop speaking their traditional language. Instead, they might switch to a more widely spoken language.
How We Know a Language is in Danger
It's not just about how many people speak a language. What really matters is who is speaking it.
- For example, a language might have two million speakers. But if all of them are older people and children are not learning it, that language is in danger. It's like a plant that isn't growing new seeds.
- On the other hand, the Ladin language in Europe has only about 30,000 speakers. But almost all Ladin children learn it as their first language. This means Ladin is not currently endangered because it's still being passed down.
- The Hawaiian language once had very few speakers. Now, only about 1,000 people speak it. But schools in Hawaii teach the language from preschool all the way through high school. This effort has helped the language become more stable.
Languages Around the World
There are about 6,000 to 7,000 languages spoken on Earth today. Sadly, about half of these have fewer than 3,000 speakers. Experts predict that many of these languages could disappear within the next 50 to 100 years. This loss would be a huge blow to human culture and knowledge.
Why Saving Languages Matters
Every language is a unique way of seeing the world. It carries history, stories, and traditions. When a language disappears, we lose a part of human heritage. Saving endangered languages helps keep our world's cultural diversity alive. Many groups are working hard to teach and revive languages so they don't vanish.
See also
- Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
- Language family
- Language policy
- Linguistic rights
- Lists of extinct languages
- List of revived languages
- Minority language
