Language Extinction: A Global Linguistic Crisis

As Sirbu (2015) explained, people who speak a common language and communicate with each other help develop their language. Hence, common language plays a vital role in a community/society. Linguists estimate that around 400 languages or one in every three months has become extinct over the past century. They also calculate that nearly 50% up to 90% of the remaining 6,500 languages will be gone by the end of this century.
The ten most spoken languages in the world − Chinese, English, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Bengali, Portuguese, French, and Punjabi − take about half of the world’s population. What is happening with the remaining half? More than a hundred languages claim a very small number of speakers who are actually difficult to

With the aim to preserve endangered languages globally, the programme gives grants to individuals who can document endangered languages in any part of the world. Funding for documentation projects headed by linguistic anthropologists, linguists, and even community members who are skilled in linguistic documentation is provided by the programme. According to ELDP, there are around 6,500 languages spoken worldwide. At least 50% will have died by the time the century ends. In some parts of the world, people who choose to leave their traditional ways of life, find new sources of income, and move to cities are threatened by globalization with economic, political, and social pressures. These explain why speakers stop speaking their native languages and adapt the more dominant languages for the sake of their children’s economic and social

I must, therefore, continue to use my native language and encourage my fellow native speakers to do the same; otherwise, we will be creating the “sound of silence” within our community. I care that my language dies, because if my language dies, it would be like undergoing decapitation. I will lose a very important part of me − my identity, my culture. I also care if any language dies. It doesn’t matter to me whose language it is. Should we not care for others, too? What possibly happens to our language may also happen to