Languages are more than just a means of communication—they are living archives of culture, history, and identity. Yet, around the world, languages are vanishing at an alarming rate.
According to UNESCO, nearly half of the world's 7,000 languages are at risk of extinction, with some disappearing entirely within a single generation.
As we witness an era of rapid globalization and digital dominance, understanding and safeguarding the world's linguistic diversity has never been more urgent.
Assessment of Language Endangerment
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has developed a methodology to evaluate endangered languages similar to how species are assessed.
Languages are categorized into six levels of well-being or distress. These levels range from secure languages to vulnerable ones. Issues arise starting at the third level, where languages are significantly endangered, worsening at the fourth and fifth levels: critically endangered and in a critical situation (spoken by only a few elderly community members infrequently). The final stage, of course, is extinction.
Each year, the world loses some of its 7,000 languages. Only about thirty languages are spoken by the vast majority of the global population. Hence, the UN and UNESCO declared 2022-2032 as the "International Decade of Indigenous Languages" to draw attention to this cultural hemorrhage, emphasizing the loss of languages or dialects so well-established as to be deemed somewhat autonomous languages, yet extremely fragile.
This aspect also bears weight in terms of sustainable development goals: when parents cease speaking languages and dialects to their children, communities lose words and memories, becoming unable to decipher their own historical documents, and failing to safeguard their land and future.
Acceleration of Endangerment in the Past Five Years
Until a decade ago, one language became extinct every three months, a significant rate. However, since 2019, the pace has dramatically increased, with a language disappearing from the planet every 40 days, totaling nine languages annually.
In this context, the terms "language," "idiom," and "dialect" are used interchangeably simply to illustrate the general phenomenon without socio-linguistic scientific ambitions. According to UNESCO's forecasts, half of the world's languages will vanish by the end of the century. However, experts in the field consider these to be optimistic projections.
Endangerment Dynamics
The dynamics of extinction vary considerably. While some languages, as noted by The Guardian, disappear with the passing of their last speakers, thousands of others are in jeopardy due to requiring a broader reference community.
Often, these languages, stuck in a harmful and vicious cycle - even in countries where the official language is that of former colonizing nations - are excluded from institutional use: not taught in schools, not formally used in workplaces, or absent in urban planning.
Global Protection Cases
One example involves Tochi Precious, a Nigerian activist from Abuja, a member of the organization Wikitoungues, particularly concerned about the fate of Igbo, a language from West Africa at risk of extinction this year.
Another case reported by the British daily is that of Amrit Sufi, a woman speaking Angika, a language from the eastern state of Bihar used by 7 million people but excluded from schools and rarely used in written documents. Sufi records videos to preserve the spoken heritage of a language considered inferior to the dominant Hindi, in efforts to provide a future for it. "Documenting folk songs was my way of understanding my culture and contributing," she explained.
"Urgently documenting and making it accessible where others can see it, not just archiving it in a library. Spoken tradition is disappearing because younger generations are more inclined to consume industry-produced music rather than sitting with a group and singing.
Role of Wikitoungues
Wikitongues supports activists in this challenging fieldwork, bridging anthropology, linguistics, and digital tools. Founded in 2014 in New York by Frederico Andrade, Daniel Bogre Udell, and Lindie Botes, the non-profit organization aims to document all languages globally before they vanish. Primarily through video recordings, Wikitongues promotes the teaching of endangered languages, especially through a platform named Poly.
In addition to preventing their disappearance, Wikitongues offers grants, training, and resources to activists striving to preserve languages. Already documenting around 10% of the world's languages, the organization serves as a linguistic repository with videos, dictionaries, and other language archives in over 700 languages.
The Future of Languages and AI
While many activists have written books about their languages and established local radio stations, artificial intelligence (AI) on a broader scale might aid in processing texts in certain languages, developing dedicated chatbots to help younger generations practice and learn their grandparents' languages. However, some experts have reservations about providing materials for such tools.
UNESCO has been publishing an Atlas of Endangered Languages online for several years, indicating that linguistic diversity is severely threatened worldwide, with approximately 40% of populations lacking education in their spoken language.
Endangered Languages in Italy
Italy also presents a variety of linguistic situations, with laws often, though not universally, protecting these diverse languages, as highlighted by UNESCO. The linguistic diversity includes Occitan spoken by 20 to 40,000 individuals in the high alpine valleys of western Piedmont, Ladino spoken by 30,000 speakers at risk of extinction in select areas, and Sardinian practiced by approximately a million individuals across Sardinia.
Italy also faces more intricate scenarios like Tabarchino spoken by around 10,000 people in two municipalities in southern Sardinia. As languages continue to face extinction, efforts to preserve and document them become increasingly vital.
