It is a sobering reality in our rapidly changing world that linguists estimate a language disappears approximately every 14 days. Every fortnight, somewhere across the globe, a language is abandoned in favour of more widely spoken languages such as English, Spanish or Mandarin.
Current estimates suggest that nearly 48% of the world’s languages are at risk of extinction. Conflict, war, forced migration and the displacement of refugees are just some of the reasons why languages are gradually abandoned within communities, towns and regions. Religion, education systems, social integration and geographical isolation can also contribute to the decline of native languages, as people increasingly adopt more dominant forms of communication.
Here in the United Kingdom, for example, both Cornish and Manx (traditionally spoken on the Isle of Man) are considered endangered languages.
According to UNESCO, language preservation begins within the home. When a language is spoken fluently by grandparents and parents but no longer passed down to children, each successive generation loses a deeper connection to it. If children are discouraged from speaking their mother tongue, or if the language is excluded from education and daily life, it moves ever closer to extinction.
It is estimated that by the year 2100, half of the approximately 7,000 languages currently spoken worldwide may have disappeared, many of them before they have even been formally documented or studied.
When people are ridiculed, punished or prevented from speaking their native language, humanity risks losing invaluable cultural heritage. A language is far more than a means of communication; it carries history, identity, tradition, and collective knowledge. As one linguistics professor observed, “Language holds a world of knowledge, and when we lose a language, we lose knowledge and history; we lose a connection to a distant culture and way of life.”
