Today, there are a staggering 2500 endangered languages! However, some are incredibly endangered, and could go extinct in our lifetimes! Here they are…
13. Quechua
Quechua’s greatest claim to fame is the language of the Hutts from Star Wars, perhaps the most famous of all fictional languages.
However, Quechua is also one of the most endangered languages on this list (although not as much as #1). There are currently 2.3 million speakers of Quechua, mainly in the Peruvian Andes but also Bolivian.
Quechua suffers from what many indigenous languages in the former Spanish Empire do- the emergence of Spanish. Spanish has become more spoken over the years, with the government and media using it more and more.
As a result, little by little, the younger generations stopped using Quechua and started using Spanish instead. Little by little, since the 18th century, Quechua has become more endangered.
12. Guaraní
Guaraní is spoken by 90,000 people, mainly in Paraguay however small pockets also exist in Argentina, Boliva and Brazil.
Guaraní suffers from the same thing that Quechua has- the prevalence of Spanish. Just as with Quechua, many young Guaraní-speakers have forgone speaking the language after they’ve left their parents’ home.
This has led to them not teaching to their own children either. The result has been, little by little over the past 300 years, Guaraní being replaced by Spanish.
Indeed, many Paraguayan schools who taught almost solely in Guaraní 50 years ago, don’t anymore… Spanish is now used instead.
11. Walloon
Walloon is a relatively small romance language spoken in Wallonia, the southernmost of the two major Belgian regions. (The other being Flanders, with the Flemish).
Walloon only has a meager 300,000 speakers, most of which are located in rural Wallonia and small Walloon towns. Linguistically and etymologically speaking, Walloon is very similar to French, especially northern French dialects.
Walloon has seen a major decline in new speakers thanks to the resurgence of Flemish. Until the 1960’s, there was no higher education in Flemish, you had to speak French.
However, after the 1960’s, many universities began to do course in Flemish and some Flemish-only universities were built too! As a result, Flemish people didn’t have the need to learn Walloon.
And as the people who were educated pre-1960, they are retiring and even passing on!
10. Ojibwe
The Ojibwe are one of the most endangered group of Native Americans.
Originally from the Upper West, they have been forced to live on one of the many Native American Reservations. Currently, there are only 8791 Ojibwe speakers in the US and 47,740 in Canada.
Ojibwe has suffered the same fate as almost all other Native American languages do. Disease wiped out a large chunk of their pre-colonial population.
Ojibwe young people have also “westernized”, meaning that they’ve chosen to forgo teaching their own children Ojibwe, instead choosing to learn English.
9. Choctaw
Choctaw is perhaps one of the most endangered remnants of a pre-Columbus-era United States.
Choctaw is an indigenous language native to the Choctaw people. Historically, their people have occupied what is now Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
However, they have since migrated to Mississippi solely. Choctaw is spoken by 9600 people, all of whom are Choctaw.
Choctaw has suffered from the same thing that many other Native American language have: plague. The Choctaw has suffered from many old world diseases such as Small Pox and the Plague.
Choctaw has also seen many of its younger generations “westernize”. This has included losing their native language, and choosing English.
8. Basque
Basque is perhaps one of the most useless languages anyone can learn. But it is also an endangered one too!
Basque isn’t as endangered as many other languages on this list, being only moderately endangered. Basque currently has 751,500 total speakers, with most being native speakers!
Basque is spoken in the Basque Country- an ethno-linguistic group around the Bay of Biscay, at the foot of the Pyrenees. Basque is one an endangered language because of two reasons:
- Francisco Franco, the former dictator of Spain, made it illegal to speak minority languages in public. This included Basque and Catalan. This caused many young people to forgo learning Basque as children.
- Partly thanks to people not wanting to learn Basque, the media didn’t report or use Basque, even local media. This furthered meant that people didn’t want to learn Basque.
7. Belarussian
Belarussian is perhaps a language you haven’t heard of. The language is very similar in many ways to its neighboring Russian, however, much of its vocabulary is out of date for many younger Russian speakers.
In fact, Belarussian is one of the most endangered languages. As one can expect, many people who would speak Belarussian have instead decided to speak Russian. However, not for the reason you might think…
It is illegal to speak Belarussian… in Belarus. Instead, Belarussians have to speak Russian in public, otherwise, one can expect a lengthy prison sentence.
As a result, only Belarussian expats abroad can freely speak Belarussian, and even among those, many prefer Russian and English.
6. Magar
Magar are an ethno-linguistic group native to Nepal. Magar currently has 840,000 native speakers, mostly located in Nepal, however, a few do reside in neighboring countries, mainly India.
Magar has seen a decline in recent years, especially so in many secluded villages.
There are several reasons why this has happened. As with many other languages, Magar has seen many people decide to learn other languages. Most notably, these have been English and Nepali.
Because of this, many people who speak Magar are much older than the speakers of other languages (comparably). As a result, many of them are passing from this world to the next, as such the number is decreasing.
5. Limousin
The Limousin language helped to give English (and French) the word limousine (a car usually reserved for weddings or other special occasions). Their language is also one of the most endangered languages on the planet.
The Limousin language is spoken in the north of the Occitanie region in France. In fact, Limousin is a dialect of Occitan. Currently Limousin is spoken by only 10,000 people, mainly in North Occitanie.
Limousin has become the most recent of many endangered languages, thanks to the prevalence of French.
Once, Limousin was as prevalent as Standard Occitanie. However, during the Early Modern Period, French was standardized and became mandatory in schools. The result was that French became preferred over Limousin.
4. Breton
Breton is famous for having been an extinct language and the seeing a massive resurgence in popularity in recent years. However, it is still one of the most endangered languages.
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Northwest France, in Brittany. Today, Breton is spoken by only 365,000 people, and is the only Celtic language still spoken on mainland (continental) Europe.
Breton has become endangered because of the same reason that Limousin has become endangered.
Breton was once spoken by everyone who lived in Brittany, however, beginning during the Early Modern Period (1800-1900), French became more widely spoken. Thus, Breton became extinct.
3. Asturian (Leonese)
Asturian, sometimes called Leonese, is perhaps another obscure language. However, it is also one of the most endangered languages on the planet too!
Asturian is spoken by 100,000 people in the Asturias and León. Asturian is very similar to Spanish- linguistically and etymologically speaking anyway. (Both Asturian and Spanish are romance languages).
Asturian has become endangered because of the same reasons other local languages in Spain has- Francisco Franco. During his dictatorship, he made it illegal to speak Asturian in public.
The result was that a generation of Asturian children grew up not speaking Asturian, and thus didn’t pass it on to their own children and their grandchildren. This has put it at a serious risk of extinction.
2. Malto
Malto is a regional language, spoken in Southern India. However, major languages like Hindi are becoming more prevalent in India than Malto is.
Malto is spoken by 224,926 people, most of whom reside in the Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar regions.
Malto has become endangered mostly because young Indians have chosen to become more Western. This has seen them adopt more western traditions, including clothing and language.
Instead of learning solely Hindi and speaking Malto at home, many young Indians have chosen to learn English over Malto and Hindi.
1. Ayapanenco
Ayapanenco has made the news several times. Most notably, this is for a major feud between its two most famous (and only!) speakers. That’s right, Ayapanenco has a total of two speakers! Up until recently, they refused to speak to one another.
Ayapanenco is currently severely endangered, and is perhaps the most likely language on this list to go extinct during our lifetimes. However, the two speakers have put their feud aside to try to revive Ayapanenco!
Ayapanenco is spoken in a tiny village in Mexico, 10 km east of Comalcalco, in Tabasco. The language was a vibrant language in the village since its foundation, until the 1950’s, when Spanish became mandatory in the village’s school.
This caused many local children to prefer speaking Spanish over Ayapanenco.
Got any more endangered languages? Tell me in the comments!