Why Are So Many Languages Disappearing and Can We Save Them?

There are 195 countries and over 7,000 documented languages currently spoken around the world. If you do the maths, that gives us approximately 35 languages per country, but not every country has 35 official languages. Some countries, such as Papua New Guinea, have over 800 native languages. Others, like Montenegro, have only 5 languages spoken in the country.

All of this to say, language is an expression so localised that, while it can extend across countries, can also be limited to a few square feet in a town or village.

Localised native languages are quickly disappearing to make way for more commonly used languages. Australia National University conducted a study in 2021 on endangered languages. While around half of the world's 7,000 recognised languages are currently endangered, it is estimated that approximately 1,500 of these endangered languages could no longer be spoken by the end of the century. With every loss of a language, comes the erasure of art, music, literature, traditional knowledge and heritage tied to it. We are not only losing languages. We are losing cultures.

The inexorable march of time, globalisation, and other factors have led to the gradual extinction of many languages. Take a journey with us as we dive into the alarming issue of disappearing languages, their impact on cultures, and what can be done to prevent the deterioration of language.

The slow demise of language diversity

Language is more than just a medium of communication; it embodies the soul of a culture. For native speakers, their language is not merely a means to convey ideas; it's their mother tongue, their identity, and their connection to their heritage. The world's languages encapsulate millennia of history and diverse cultural practices. With over 7,000 languages across the globe, the world is rich with heritage and culture, for now.

Between 1950 and 2010, 230 languages disappeared, according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. The threat continues with approximately 40% of languages being endangered, most of which have less than 1,000 native speakers remaining. On the flip side, only 23 languages account for more than half the world's population, with languages such as English being taken up instead of indigenous languages by younger generations.

Australia alone had over 250 First Nations languages spoken across the continent before colonisation. Today, only 40 native languages are still spoken, with only 12 being learned by children.

Gottscheerish, an Upper German dialect that was the main language in Gottschee, a town in the highlands of modern-day Slovenia, is a 600-year-old language that is now considered critically endangered. Gottschee was annexed by the Italians in 1941, and its residents were sent to resettlement camps. Several years later, many Gottschee immigrants made New York their home. While many in the community spoke Gottscheerish amongst each other, they raised their children with English. Now, 70 years later, their language is on the brink of extinction.

The Kingdom of Hawaiʻian had a Hawaiʻian language literacy rate of more than 90% but after the takeover of the monarchy, speaking Hawaiʻian was discouraged. In 1896, after the US government illegally overthrew the Hawaiʻian government, the Hawaiʻian language was banned from school instruction and replaced by English as the official language to be taught at schools. Native speakers of the Hawaiʻian language severely dwindled as a result. However, the Hawaiʻian Renaissance in the 1970s sparked a renewed interest in the native language and efforts to promote the language re-emerged. Hawaiʻian language immersion schools were created in the mid-1980s to reintroduce the language to the island's future generations. A 2016 state government report found that more than 18,000 people living in the state speak Hawaiʻian, as well as English, at home, a massive increase from the 2,000 native speakers they had in the 1970s.

In New Zealand, the Māori language was also on its way to extinction in the 1970s, with only 5% of young Māori people speaking the language. However, with efforts by the Māori, backed by the government, more than 25% speak it now.

However, not every language has a happy ending. The Australian National University's study on endangered languages has identified factors that can help linguists determine which languages are at a higher risk of extinction.