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<big><font color="#660000">The world has lost Manx in the Isle of Man,
Ubykh in Turkey and last<br>
year Alaska's last native speaker of Eyak, Marie Smith Jones, died,<br>
taking the aboriginal language with her.<br>
<br>
Of the 6900 languages spoken in the world, 2500 are endangered, the<br>
UN's cultural agency UNESCO said yesterday as it released its latest<br>
atlas of world languages.<br>
<br>
That represents a multi-fold increase from the last atlas compiled in<br>
2001, which listed 900 languages threatened with extinction. But<br>
experts say this is more the result of better research tools than of<br>
an increasingly dire situation for the world's many tongues.<br>
<br>
Still there is disheartening news.<br>
<br>
There are 199 languages in the world spoken by fewer than a dozen<br>
people, including Karaim, which has six speakers in Ukraine and<br>
Wichita, spoken by 10people in the US state of Oklahoma.<br>
<br>
The last four speakers of Lengilu talk among themselves in Indonesia.<br>
<br>
Prospects are a bit brighter for 178 other languages, spoken by<br>
between 10 and 150 people.<br>
<br>
More than 200 languages have become extinct over the past three<br>
generations, such as Ubykh, which fell silent in 1992, when Tefvic<br>
Esenc passed on, Aasax in Tanzania, which disappeared in 1976, and<br>
Manx in 1974.<br>
<br>
India tops the list of countries with the greatest number of<br>
endangered languages, 196 in all, followed by the US, which stands to<br>
lose 192 and Indonesia, where 147 are in peril.<br>
<br>
Australian linguist Christopher Moseley, who headed the atlas team of<br>
25 experts, noted that countries with rich linguistic diversity, such<br>
as India and the US were also facing the greatest threat of language<br>
extinction.<br>
<br>
Even sub-Saharan Africa's melting pot of 2000 languages is expected to<br>
shrink by at least 10 per cent over the coming century, according to<br>
UNESCO.<br>
<br>
On UNESCO's rating scale, 538 languages are critically endangered, 502<br>
severely endangered, 632 definitely endangered and 607 unsafe.<br>
<br>
On a brighter note, Papua New Guinea, the country of 800 languages,<br>
the most diverse in the world, has only 88 endangered dialects.<br>
<br>
Certain languages are even showing some signs of a revival, like<br>
Cornish, a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall, southern England, and<br>
Sishee in New Caledonia.<br>
<br>
Governments in Peru, New Zealand, Canada, the US and Mexico have been<br>
successful in their efforts to prevent indigenous languages dying out.<br>
<br>
UNESCO deputy-director Françoise Rivière applauded government efforts<br>
to support linguistic diversity but added that "people have to be<br>
proud to speak their language" to ensure it thrives. </font></big><br>
<br>
AS wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:gnuhhc$lm3$1@trimpas.omnitel.net" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">"KJL" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:xxx@yy.zz"><xxx@yy.zz></a> wrote in message <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="news:gnp351$u1s$1@trimpas.omnitel.net">news:gnp351$u1s$1@trimpas.omnitel.net</a>...
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Egzistuoja dar ir dabar, tai prie Rygos álankos (vakarinëje dalyje iki
Kolkos) gyvenantys ugrofinai - lyviai.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
Ju beda, kad like tik keli simtai gyvu zmoniu, is kuriu gal tik kelios
desimtys sita kalba moka.
</pre>
</blockquote>
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