Language Endangerment Status | |
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Extinct (EX) | |
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Endangered | |
Safe | |
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Other categories | |
Related topics | |
UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger categories | |
An endangered language is a language 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 a dead language. A language may be endangered in one area but show signs of revitalisation in another, as with the Irish language.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines five levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct":[1]
The list below includes the findings from the third edition of Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010; formerly the Red Book of Endangered Languages), as well as the online edition of the aforementioned publication, both published by UNESCO.[2]