Language Longevity

An article in the 1 January Economist notes that 6,800 languages exist in the world today. Of these 400 are nearing extinction and 25 languages are expected to disappear each year. The rarest languages live only as long as the last generation of speakers. The Busuu in Cameroon has 8 speakers, Chiapaneco in Mexico has 1 and the Wadjigu aboriginal language in Australia has 1 speaker.

Half the world population is represented by 11 first languages with Mandarin the largest (see Miscellaneous Charts). However the Internet is dominated by English with two-thirds of web content being in English.

Many languages contain rich dimensions of knowledge about local environments. The Eskimos who speak Inuit have between 4 and 12 words (depending on which linquist you believe) for snow. The Huanoo farmers in the Philippines are able to distinguish between 30 different types of soil with their language. As noted in a 2003 UNESCO research paper ?the extinction of each language results in irrevocable loss of unique cultural, historical and ecological knowledge". A counter argument is that a common language increases trading, business efficiency and human harmony.

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