Editing Language (section)

===Language endangerment===
{{main|Endangered language|Language loss|Language shift|Language death}}
[[File:Linguistic diversity.png|upright=1.5|thumb|{{legend|#ff6666|Together, these eight countries contain more than 50% of the world's languages.}} {{legend|#76b6f7|These areas are the most linguistically diverse<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=410659 | title=The Measurement of Linguistic Diversity | journal=Language | year=1956 | volume=32 | issue=1 | pages=109–115 | last=Greenberg | first=Joseph H. | doi=10.2307/410659}}</ref> in the world, and the locations of most of the world's endangered languages.}}]]
[[endangered language|Language endangerment]] occurs when a language is at risk of falling out of use as its speakers die out or [[language shift|shift]] to speaking another language. [[Language loss]] occurs when the language has no more native speakers, and becomes a ''[[dead language]]''. If eventually no one speaks the language at all, it becomes an ''[[extinct language]]''. While languages have always gone extinct throughout human history, they have been disappearing at an accelerated rate in the 20th and 21st centuries due to the processes of [[globalization]] and [[neo-colonialism]], where the economically powerful languages dominate other languages.<ref name="Handbook"/>

The more commonly spoken languages dominate the less commonly spoken languages, so the less commonly spoken languages eventually disappear from populations. Of the between 6,000<ref name="Moseley">{{harvcoltxt|Moseley|2010}}: "[http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/index.php Statistics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812000456/http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/index.php |date=12 August 2014 }}"</ref> and 7,000 languages spoken as of 2010, between 50 and 90% of those are expected to have become extinct by the year 2100.<ref name="Handbook">{{harvcoltxt|Austin|Sallabank|2011}}</ref> The [[List of languages by number of native speakers|top 20 languages]], those spoken by more than 50 million speakers each, are spoken by 50% of the world's population, whereas many of the other languages are spoken by smaller communities, most of them with less than 10,000 speakers.<ref name="Handbook"/>

[[File:Lang_Status_List.svg|thumb|right|[[UNESCO]]'s five levels of language endangerment]]
The [[UNESCO|United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]] (UNESCO) operates with five levels of language endangerment: "safe", "vulnerable" (not spoken by children outside the home), "definitely endangered" (not spoken by children), "severely endangered" (only spoken by the oldest generations), and "critically endangered" (spoken by a few members of the oldest generation, often [[Speaker types|semi-speakers]]). Despite claims that the world would be better off if most adopted a single common ''[[lingua franca]]'', such as English or [[Esperanto]], there is a consensus that the loss of languages harms the cultural diversity of the world. It is a common belief, going back to the biblical narrative of the [[tower of Babel]] in the [[Old Testament]], that linguistic diversity causes political conflict,<ref name="Haugen">{{harvcoltxt|Haugen|1973}}</ref> but many of the world's major episodes of violence have taken place in situations with low linguistic diversity, such as the [[Yugoslav Wars|Yugoslav]] and [[American Civil War]], or the [[Rwandan genocide|genocide of Rwanda]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Austin|Sallabank|2011|pp=10–11}}</ref>

Many projects aim to prevent or slow this loss by [[language revitalization|revitalizing]] endangered languages and promoting education and literacy in minority languages. Across the world, many countries have enacted [[Language policy|specific legislation]] to protect and stabilize the language of indigenous [[speech community|speech communities]]. A minority of linguists have argued that language loss is a natural process that should not be counteracted and that documenting endangered languages for posterity is sufficient.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|1992}}</ref>

The [[University of Waikato]] is using the [[Welsh language]] as a model for their [[Māori language]] revitalisation programme, as they deem Welsh to be the world's leading example for the survival of languages.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED2111/S00030/university-of-waikato-launches-a-strategic-partnership.htm |title=University of Waikato Launches a Strategic Partnership with Cardiff University in Wales |publisher=University of Waikato |via=Scoop News |date=10 November 2021 |access-date=21 December 2021 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124055642/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED2111/S00030/university-of-waikato-launches-a-strategic-partnership.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = https://nation.cymru/news/council-investing-6-4m-in-the-future-of-the-welsh-language/ |author = Rhiannon James |title = Council investing £6.4m in the future of the Welsh language |website = Nation Cymru |date = 10 November 2021 |access-date = 21 December 2021 |archive-date = 11 November 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211111205030/https://nation.cymru/news/council-investing-6-4m-in-the-future-of-the-welsh-language/ |url-status = live }}</ref> In 2019, Hawaiian TV company [[World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network|Oiwi]] visited a [[Welsh language]] centre in [[Nant Gwrtheyrn]], [[North Wales]], to help find ways of preserving their [[Hawaiian language|Ōlelo Hawaiʻi]] language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=130057&headline=Hawaiian%20TV%20company%20seeks%20help%20to%20promote%20language&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2019 |title=Hawaiian TV company seeks help to promote language |work=Cambrian News |date=20 August 2019 |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205155429/https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=130057&headline=Hawaiian%20TV%20company%20seeks%20help%20to%20promote%20language&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>