About 6,912 languages are spoken around the world, give or take a hundred. In the meantime the numbers could change because by 2100, 90 per cent of all human languages will disappear forever. With every language that disappears a world also disappears, an interpretation of reality and a universe of senses will make way for a in favor of standardized thought and customs.
How can you tell a story if you no longer have the words? That is why individuals, organizations, linguistic associations and experts are making an effort to save dying languages so that a human wealth similar in some ways to a biological species will not be lost.
96% of the world’s population uses four languages: Mandarin Chinese, English, Hindu/Urdu and Spanish followed by Russian, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Japanese, French, German and Italian. The other four per cent speak all the others.
820 different languages are spoken in Papua New Guinea. In China there are “only” 235 languages. The less a language is widespread the more it is complex, articulated: this goes against the common conviction that languages spoken by a few people are simpler. When a language becomes an instrument of understanding between members of a small community the expressions and the subtleties increase because of a shared life.
Languages die for many reasons. Some say that they don’t die a natural death but are killed. The decay and death of a language occurs as a reaction to different pressures – social, cultural, economic and military – on a community. But it is also worth pondering the gradual death: when a language stops being used for all the needs and functions for which it was used in the past and is relegated to niche uses, it withers. And gradually it is lost.
Almost 85% of languages have less than 100 thousand speakers and there are about 6,000 languages that are spoken by 10% of the world’s population. But the number of speakers is not the most important variable. It is the teaching of the language to new generations. If a population stops passing a language onto their children the language is at risk of dying extremely quickly no matter how widespread it is at the time. Icelandic, with only 100,000 speakers, is not considered at risk because children study it. On the other hand in Micronesia the two languages most at risk are those with the highest number of speakers (because the majority of old people do not pass on the language).
According to Ethnologue’s data over half of all languages are at risk of dying out by the end of this century, but it is probably an approximation by defect. When a language dies it is almost impossible to “revive” it. Although there are attempts at linguistic rebirth, they need strong ethnic motivations to be successful. Until now the only experiment that has worked has been Hebrew. You must get there in time, but it is better to prevent the problem because once a language like Eyak has only one speaker the process has already become irreversible.
Above all it is important to create a culture in this direction. Sensitize, highlight, understand. Because when there are no longer words to say it with you can’t say “that thing”. You will say something similar, the closest possible thing, in another language. But it will no longer be the same thing.
