An
endangered language
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. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead lang ...
is a
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
that is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an
extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, l ...
. A language may be endangered in one area but show signs of revitalisation in another, as with the
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
.
The
defines
five levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct":
[
]
* Vulnerable – "most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g. home)"
* Definitely endangered – "children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home"
* Severely endangered – "language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves"
* Critically endangered – "the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently"
* Extinct – "there are no speakers left; included in the Atlas if presumably extinct since the 1950s"
The list below includes the findings from the third edition of ''
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
The UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' is an online publication containing a comprehensive list of the world's endangered languages. It originally replaced the ''Red Book of Endangered Languages'' as a title in print after a ...
'' (2010; formerly the ''Red Book of Endangered Languages''), as well as the online edition of the aforementioned publication, both published by UNESCO.
For the online atlas version see here
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See also
* List of endangered languages in Europe
* List of endangered languages in Asia
References
External links
* {{cite web , url=https://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/ , title=Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia , publisher=UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
Endangered languages of Europe