Why are languages going extinct so rapidly?

Languages are abandoned when speakers come to think of them as socially inferior, tied to the past, traditional, backward, or economically stagnant. The current rapid decline of approximately one language every two weeks appears to be unprecedented in human history.

What does humanity lose when a language dies?

A vast repository of human knowledge about the natural world, plants, animals, ecosystems, and cultural traditions is in the language. Every language contains the collective history of an entire people.

LIVING TONGUES FELLOWS

Danielle Barth
Matugar Panau Project 2010-2011

Anna Pucilowski
Ho Language Project 2008-2009

Don Daniels
Panim Language Project 2010

LIVING TONGUES ASSOCIATES

Anna Luisa Daigneault
Latin America Projects Coordinator 2009-
Organizational Fellow 2011-

Jeremy Fahringer
Enduring Voices Project Manager 2009-
Information Technology Specialist
Language Hotspots Project
Talking Dictionaries Project

Opino Gomango
Sora Language Project 2007-
Local Project Coordinator/Field Researcher-Remo project 2010-
Local Project Coordinator/Field Researcher-Gta’ project 2010-

Dr. Ganesh Murmu
Koro Documentation Project 2008-
Munda Languages Project 2007-