[Summary]
In 2010, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization) launched a free Interactive Atlas of the
World’s Languages in Danger. The online edition is a complement of
the print edition (3rd edition, 2010), edited by Christopher
Moseley, and available in English, French and Spanish, with
previous editions in 1996 and 2001. 2,473 languages were listed on
4 June 2011, with a search engine by country and area, language
name, number of speakers from/to, vitality and ISO 639-3 code. The
language names have been indicated in English, French and Spanish
transcriptions. Alternate names (spelling variants, dialects or
names in non-Roman scripts) are also provided.
***
In 2010, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization) launched a free Interactive Atlas of the
World’s Languages in Danger.
The online edition is a complement of the print edition (3rd
edition, 2010), edited by Christopher Moseley, and available in
English, French and Spanish, with previous editions in 1996 and
2001.
2,473 languages were listed on 4 June 2011, with a search engine
by country and area, language name, number of speakers from/to,
vitality and ISO 639-3 code.
The language names have been indicated in English, French and
Spanish transcriptions. Alternate names (spelling variants,
dialects or names in non-Roman scripts) are also provided.
# About language vitality
UNESCO’s Language Vitality and Endangerment framework has
established six degrees of vitality/endangerment: safe, vulnerable,
definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered,
extinct.
“Safe” -- not included in the atlas -- means that the language is
spoken by all generations and that intergenerational transmission
is uninterrupted.
“Vulnerable” means that most children speak the language, but it
may be restricted to certain domains, for example at home.
“Definitely endangered” means that children no longer learn the
language as a mother tongue in the home.
“Severely endangered” means that the language is spoken by grand-
parents and older generations. While the parent generation may
understand it, they don’t speak it to children or among themselves.
“Critically endangered” means that the youngest speakers are
grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and
infrequently.
“Extinct” means there are no speakers left. The atlas includes
presumably extinct languages since the 1950s.
# How to define an endangered language
When exactly is a language considered as endangered? As explained
by UNESCO on the interactive altas’ website: “A language is
endangered when its speakers cease to use it, use it in fewer and
fewer domains, use fewer of its registers and speaking styles,
and/or stop passing it on to the next generation. No single factor
determines whether a language is endangered.”
UNESCO experts have identified nine factors that should be
considered together: (1) intergenerational language transmission;
(2) absolute number of speakers; (3) proportion of speakers within
the total population; (4) shifts in domains of language use; (5)
response to new domains and media; (6) availability of materials
for language education and literacy; (7) governmental and
institutional language attitudes and policies including official
status and use; (8) community members’ attitudes towards their own
language; (9) amount and quality of documentation.
What are the causes of language endangerment and disappearance? “A
language disappears when its speakers disappear or when they shift
to speaking another language -- most often, a larger language used
by a more powerful group. Languages are threatened by external
forces such as military, economic, religious, cultural or
educational subjugation, or by internal forces such as a
community’s negative attitude towards its own language. Today,
increased migration and rapid urbanization often bring along the
loss of traditional ways of life and a strong pressure to speak a
dominant language that is -- or is perceived to be -- necessary
for full civic participation and economic advancement.”