Language Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Language endangerment=== {{main|Endangered language|Language loss|Language shift|Language death}} [[File:Linguistic diversity.png|upright=1.5|thumb|{{legend|#ff6666|Together, these eight countries contain more than 50% of the world's languages.}} {{legend|#76b6f7|These areas are the most linguistically diverse in the world, and the locations of most of the world's endangered languages.}}]] [[endangered language|Language endangerment]] occurs when a language is at risk of falling out of use as its speakers die out or [[language shift|shift]] to speaking another language. [[Language loss]] occurs when the language has no more native speakers, and becomes a ''[[dead language]]''. If eventually no one speaks the language at all, it becomes an ''[[extinct language]]''. While languages have always gone extinct throughout human history, they have been disappearing at an accelerated rate in the 20th and 21st centuries due to the processes of [[globalization]] and [[neo-colonialism]], where the economically powerful languages dominate other languages.<ref name="Handbook"/> The more commonly spoken languages dominate the less commonly spoken languages, so the less commonly spoken languages eventually disappear from populations. Of the between 6,000<ref name="Moseley">{{harvcoltxt|Moseley|2010}}: "[http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/index.php Statistics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812000456/http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/index.php |date=12 August 2014 }}"</ref> and 7,000 languages spoken as of 2010, between 50 and 90% of those are expected to have become extinct by the year 2100.<ref name="Handbook">{{harvcoltxt|Austin|Sallabank|2011}}</ref> The [[List of languages by number of native speakers|top 20 languages]], those spoken by more than 50 million speakers each, are spoken by 50% of the world's population, whereas many of the other languages are spoken by smaller communities, most of them with less than 10,000 speakers.<ref name="Handbook"/> [[File:Lang_Status_List.svg|thumb|right|[[UNESCO]]'s five levels of language endangerment]] The [[UNESCO|United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]] (UNESCO) operates with five levels of language endangerment: "safe", "vulnerable" (not spoken by children outside the home), "definitely endangered" (not spoken by children), "severely endangered" (only spoken by the oldest generations), and "critically endangered" (spoken by a few members of the oldest generation, often [[Speaker types|semi-speakers]]). Despite claims that the world would be better off if most adopted a single common ''[[lingua franca]]'', such as English or [[Esperanto]], there is a consensus that the loss of languages harms the cultural diversity of the world. It is a common belief, going back to the biblical narrative of the [[tower of Babel]] in the [[Old Testament]], that linguistic diversity causes political conflict,<ref name="Haugen">{{harvcoltxt|Haugen|1973}}</ref> but many of the world's major episodes of violence have taken place in situations with low linguistic diversity, such as the [[Yugoslav Wars|Yugoslav]] and [[American Civil War]], or the [[Rwandan genocide|genocide of Rwanda]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Austin|Sallabank|2011|pp=10–11}}</ref> Many projects aim to prevent or slow this loss by [[language revitalization|revitalizing]] endangered languages and promoting education and literacy in minority languages. Across the world, many countries have enacted [[Language policy|specific legislation]] to protect and stabilize the language of indigenous [[speech community|speech communities]]. A minority of linguists have argued that language loss is a natural process that should not be counteracted and that documenting endangered languages for posterity is sufficient.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|1992}}</ref> The [[University of Waikato]] is using the [[Welsh language]] as a model for their [[Māori language]] revitalisation programme, as they deem Welsh to be the world's leading example for the survival of languages.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED2111/S00030/university-of-waikato-launches-a-strategic-partnership.htm |title=University of Waikato Launches a Strategic Partnership with Cardiff University in Wales |publisher=University of Waikato |via=Scoop News |date=10 November 2021 |access-date=21 December 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124055642/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED2111/S00030/university-of-waikato-launches-a-strategic-partnership.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = https://nation.cymru/news/council-investing-6-4m-in-the-future-of-the-welsh-language/ |author = Rhiannon James |title = Council investing £6.4m in the future of the Welsh language |website = Nation Cymru |date = 10 November 2021 |access-date = 21 December 2021 |archive-date = 11 November 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211111205030/https://nation.cymru/news/council-investing-6-4m-in-the-future-of-the-welsh-language/ |url-status = live }}</ref> In 2019, Hawaiian TV company [[World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network|Oiwi]] visited a [[Welsh language]] centre in [[Nant Gwrtheyrn]], [[North Wales]], to help find ways of preserving their [[Hawaiian language|Ōlelo Hawaiʻi]] language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=130057&headline=Hawaiian%20TV%20company%20seeks%20help%20to%20promote%20language§ionIs=news&searchyear=2019 |title=Hawaiian TV company seeks help to promote language |work=Cambrian News |date=20 August 2019 |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205155429/https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=130057&headline=Hawaiian%20TV%20company%20seeks%20help%20to%20promote%20language§ionIs=news&searchyear=2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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