Of the 7,000 languages spoken around the world, over 40 percent are at risk of fading away from regular use. Pressures for certain people to stop using their native tongues have persisted for centuries. And in some cases, they threaten to reduce the number of native speakers down to zero.
As the number of active speakers of a given tongue dwindles, so can understanding about what that language's words and phrases refer to. Faiths, cultural practices and concepts — even names of plants and the habitat needs of wildlife — are often best expressed in a given language. The potential loss of these languages, and all they represent, has motivated many to step up their preservation efforts.
Though people often talk about "revitalizing" a language, forms of speech aren’t animate objects: They can’t slide away on their own. People stop speaking and using languages for a reason, and in some ...
