Australia a top spot for vanishing languages

[Oracle of Delphi]

WASHINGTON - Linguists alarmed at the increasing extinction of many indigenous languages identified five global "hot spots" on Tuesday where the problem is worst, led by northern Australia and a region of South America.

The linguists are part of the Enduring Voices project that seeks to document and revitalize languages slipping toward oblivion, often spoken by indigenous peoples like Australia's aborigines whose cultures were trampled by settlers.

David Harrison of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, the project's co-director, said there are 6,992 recognized distinct languages worldwide. He said on average one language vanishes every two weeks, often as its last elderly speakers perish.

The project, backed by National Geographic magazine, named the region of northern Australia that includes Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia as the place where local languages are most threatened. The linguists said aboriginal Australia harbors some of the most endangered languages, with 153 different ones spoken in this region.

A region of central South America covering Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia was second on the list of "hot spots," with indigenous languages being overcome by Spanish, Portuguese or other indigenous languages.

Article Continues: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20844138/

[Flybrian]

Try this incomprehensible dead language

[Oracle of Delphi]

I understood it!

[the_yellow_dart]

Must really suck if you're one of two people left on earth speaking a language - and the only person you can talk to is your wife!! :AH-HA_wink: