As of the beginning of October 2018, there are currently:
4670 Healthy Languages including:
1463 Developing Languages and 18 Reawakening Languages
However:
1074 have about 75 years or more left
503 have about 50 years left
278 have about 25 years left
410 have about 10 years left
227 Dormant Languages or used only as a second language
Total: 7162 Living Languages

There are currently documented:
806 Extinct Languages and 213 Unattested Languages that probably never existed in the first place.

Language Vitality Report

Have languages been dying every 2 weeks?

You’ve probably heard that a language dies every 2 weeks. Journalists have been reporting this several times a year for the last two decades. There are 520 weeks in a decade, so there should have been 260 languages in that time period. And unfortunately, a few languages have died, even one that I learned to speak, but gratefully not as many as journalists have been claiming. (Journalists include: John Noble Wilford, Lee Densmer, Thomas H Maugh, Rachel Nuwer, Nina Strochlic, Angela Nelson, Raveena Aulakh, Missi Smith, Pumza Fihlani, Deirdre McPhillips, among several publications including: United Nations Department of Public Information, Daily Sabah, Guardian, Independent. There is but one publication by Karin Wiecha that agrees with my findings published here.)

This claim is frequently made by journalists based on two publications. The first is Michael Krauss (1992) The World's Languages in Crisis, and the second is David Crystal (2000) Language Death. These publications claimed that perhaps 90% of all languages are endangered. But it seems that was simply a guess, or an extrapolation onto the world of what was happening in only English speaking countries (the US and Australia as the worst in the whole world as the pie charts below show). It is true that at the end of the 20th century we did experience the dying off of many language families. And this was cause for alarm at the time. But things are changing for the better.

I was skeptical of this claim and whether it was an accurate assessment of the situation. I noticed that languages are dying at a much slower rate. I found data where some linguists in Australia kept adding extinct languages to a list, conflating the numbers. It's hard to tell how real a language really was after it’s dead. Even with living languages, there are many unattested ones that some publications still claim that are real languages. So it may be even harder with extinct languages. The last uncontacted tribe in Australia, the Pintupi (Pintupi-Luritjapiu), were made contact with in 1984. Linguists have been studying Australian aborigine languages for decades, so why all of a sudden a massive addition of extinct languages?

What makes it even more puzzling is that the date of extinction is backdated to say something like “extinct before 2000” or “died out by 2009”. It sounds like there is very little proof, and may even be based on what neighboring tribes are merely surmising.

Based on my findings, as of the end of September 2018:

  • no language has died in the last 2 weeks;
  • no language has died in the last 2 months;
  • no language has died in the last 2 years.

If we take a look at language death in just this decade since 2011 alone, here is the grand list of eleven languages:

Lower Southern Arandaaxl, Holikachukhoi, Wasco-Wishram (Kiksht)wac, Dhungaloodhx, Yurokyur, Livliv, Clallamclm, Thaypantyp, Wichitawic, Mandanmhq, Thaossf.

There are only 2 extinct languages on this list. One of these languages from my data shows up as green, so it’s in revitalization. And 8 are dormant, not completely extinct. I’ll share my own personal story about one of these dormant languages.

Even adding the spurious Australian data doesn’t get us anywhere near 260 deaths to match the claim that languages are dying every two weeks. So let me sum up according to the data:

So far this decade (93 months), we’ve experienced a language going extinct once every 3.9 years.

That's a far cry from one language every two weeks. At the current rate of language death, 0.3% of all languages currently spoken will go extinct by the year 2100.

Looking back at the list up top, on the normal scope of things it looks like some languages are threatened or have started to shift and may become endangered in the future. With the proliferation of information and data that we enjoy in the 21st century, we can and should stave off this predicament. I believe that all the languages with a lifespan of more than 25 years have a good chance of extending their lifespan. The reason why we're discussing this is because we can use technology today to save languages. So that leaves 641 languages, or less than 10% of the world's total, in danger of becoming extinct.

Adding the numbers together, it may look as if 2280 languages are expected to go extinct by the end of the century, but this too would be erroneous reporting. The vitality of a language today doesn’t mean we can expect anything for certain in the future. This is how technology can help intervene. In fact, the technologies we have today enable us to deliver bilingual education in any language.

Another problem with such an “expectation” is that if 410 languages were to die in the next 10 years, that's almost one language per week between now and then. That means that a lot of languages will have to start dying right now to even get close to that number. There has not been any drastic change in the number of languages dying off recently. Instead of waiting to see what happens, we can start documenting languages and allowing technology to help preserve them.

Languages have always come and gone throughout human history. There have always been hegemonistic languages like present-day English in the past that wiped languages out of existence (like Mongol did to Tangut), but yet myriads of small languages have continued to thrive on the fringes.

When sister languages or dialects die out within the context of a larger family, there is little that is lost in terms of linguistics. Most of the culture and identity lost to history is still shared in the sister languages, and it may even be possible to retain the oral history in a sistern language.

There was a lot of press in 1992 when the last speaker of Ubykhuby died, which was one of the most interesting languages at the time due to the native speaker’s ability to pronounce over 90 consonants very distinctly. I found that Ubykhuby is one branch of several languages that all share similar characteristics, grammar, and pronunciation. You can compare these differences on the write-up of each language on Wikipedia. Ubykhuby was special in that it had a few more sounds than its closest relatives, but we can still find all of these sounds in those languages. Moreover, these relatives, Adygheady, Abkhazabk, and Kabardiankbd, still have strong vitality. In terms of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar, little was lost with the death of Ubykhuby since it shares so much with its sister languages. Most linguists fear a unique language, an isolate, or a whole language family dying off because we lose their unique language structure and patterns of expression, along with their unique culture and a slice of humanity’s historical record.

Do we need to take action to help preserve languages and their right to exist? Yes! The United Nations has declared that 2019 is the "Year of the Indigenous Language" so it's a great time to start taking action.

I’m dedicated to language lifespan and revitalization. In fact, one of the languages I speak, the Formosan aborigine language Thaossf, died in 2017 (that is, the last native speaker died at age 94 whom I knew for nine years and learned the language from). Currently Thaossf is considered “dormant” because there are people like me and dozens of others who can speak the language, but were not born as native speakers.

Unfortunately with Thaossf, it has no sister languages just like it, possessing bizarre consonant clusters, a highly productive grammar, versatile word order (VSO, VOS, SVO all supported), and unique morphological processes. It has a unique history that goes back thousands of years, and is believed to sit, along with Saisiyatxsy, at the top of the whole Austronesian language family tree, making it one of the oldest languages in the world. This is what appealed to me to learn the language in the first place.

Technology Solutions Today

Today it has never been easier to create learning materials to acquire a minority language. With translations and recordings of a thousand or more sentences at A1 (elementary) level, at Glossika we put our AI to work to decipher and sort the sentence structures for the learner. Glossika delivers fluency training by feeding these sentences to the user through spaced repetition audio from the simplest sentences to the most complex in the set. Translation and recording only takes a week, and the whole system can be up and running on Glossika in no time.

It takes less than thirty seconds for a new user to sign up on Glossika, choose this new language, and start training their fluency in the language.

In the next year, Glossika will launch a new set of tools that makes this process even easier, with the ability to create your own apps for your own language. You’ll be able to add bilingual stories and content in any area of culture, nature, or science. The great thing is, Glossika’s AI can make the newly added language a source language to learn any other language on the platform empowering young people with communication skills to gain a competitive advantage in the world.

Glossika already hosts free courses in several languages. With the help of revitalists who care about their language, Manxglv is already available on Glossika with almost 4000 sentences covering levels A1 to B2. And Glossika is getting ready to add several indigenous Formosan languages to the platform.

Don't Measure Vitality by Number of Speakers!

Journalists often claim that a language is going to die because it only has a thousand speakers.

You cannot tell if a language is in danger of dying by its number of speakers.

Humans spoke languages tens of thousands of years ago. But rarely did any community have more than 1000 people at that time. Yet, we know that there were myriads of languages spread across the earth. The whole human population may not have been more than a few million at the most. Most communities and languages probably balanced out at between 150 to 300 people. A language community with more than 100 speakers today can be considered quite healthy and vivacious, as long as they choose to speak in that language with each other!

Today we have languages that have more than a billion speakers. That’s just overpopulation. Small languages can and are just as strong as large languages. The Pintupi that I mentioned above speak Pintupi-Luritjapiu, which has just under 150 speakers. The language is considered “developing”, which is healthy.

I keep hearing people say a language is on its deathbed because it only has 10,000 speakers. That’s a ridiculous claim. And that’s a lot of people!

Just because a language is only spoken and not written, or is considered “aboriginal” does not mean it is simpler in structure. The national languages we speak today, like English, are the simplified versions of our prehistoric heavily-convoluted grammatical languages like Proto-Indo-European, which were ever only spoken and not written. And yet, that language survived and multiplied into 500+ modern languages! The point here is that undocumented or unwritten languages tend to be more complex than the popular languages that we know and speak.

ISO gets updated with new languages every year

There are a number of reasons why languages are getting added. Some languages are discovered outright. Others have been upgraded from dialects to languages as we gain better understanding of them.

Here’s a quick look at what's been added over the last few years. Note: extinct languages on this list didn't necessarily go extinct the year they were added; it just means we now have proof that this extinct language actually existed.

  • 2018: 12 languages added. 3 discoveries. 7 dialect upgrades. 2 extinct languages now recognized: Malawian Sign Languagelws, Nzadinzd, Magɨgkd. Dialect upgrades: Montenegrincnr, Western Armenianhyw, Mazatec, Puebla and Northeasternpbm, Ngengnj, Mel-Khaonhhkn, Mankiyalinlm, Tetserrettez, Extinct languages now recognized: Gyalsumdogyo, Cuitlateccuy.
  • 2017: 11 languages added. 7 discoveries. 4 dialect upgrades.
  • 2016: 17 languages added. 11 discoveries. 5 dialect upgrades. 1 extinct language now recognized.
  • 2015: 13 languages added. 4 discoveries. 5 dialect upgrades. 4 extinct languages now recognized.
  • 2014: 13 languages added. 4 discoveries. 7 dialect upgrades. 2 extinct languages now recognized.
  • 2013: 101 languages added. 9 discoveries. 41 dialect upgrades. 51 extinct languages now recognized.

Download the Language Vitality Report PDF to get the full list of languages color-coded by vitality.

That’s a total increase of 165 languages over the last 6 years.

At the same time, many languages are stripped of their ISO codes every year due to better proof and understanding of their language status. And interestingly enough, some languages never actually existed (unattested, that is) — some were named after a village that speaks a language already listed, or straddle a border under different names, so such duplicates are removed.

  • 10 languages removed in 2018
  • 22 languages removed in 2017
  • 6 languages removed in 2016
  • 9 languages removed in 2015
  • 1 language removed in 2014
  • 8 languages removed in 2013

Over the last 6 years, that's 165 languages added and 56 removed, for a net gain of 111 languages, or a growth of 18 languages per year.

Please remember that languages also don’t just appear out of thin air. This net growth of languages is simply a better understanding of what has always existed in terms of languages. It is only now that our understanding has matured enough to better assess the status of these languages.

In analysis of data presented on Ethnologue, Glottolog, and the ISO registrations, we can identify several trends:

  1. Language death is very severe in Australia, but also appears to be limited to Australia.
  2. The Australian language database AUSTLANG continues to “discover” extinct languages; continuously adding to the tally of recent extinctions. These extinctions don’t add to the current tally of spoken languages, but it may inflate the number of recent extinctions.
  3. Language death elsewhere in the rest of the world has been at a much slower rate than extrapolated and reported by journalists.
  4. The number of healthy languages in vigorous use far outnumbers the number of languages that are in threat of dying.
  5. We can predict how long it will take dying languages to go extinct if no preventative action is taken.

The eight countries with the largest number of languages (Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, China, USA, Brazil, Australia) have a combined total of 3200+ languages. If we take a sampling of language life and death from these eight countries since the year 2000, we can easily see the trend that has been occurring while we've been inundated by news of languages dying every 2 weeks (hover over the bars to see real numbers):

In every country sampled above, the number of spoken languages has increased with the exception of Indonesia and Australia. India and China together have gained 159 more languages, which far outnumbers Indonesia’s and Australia’s drop of 98 living languages. As mentioned above, Australia has been adding many more to their list of extinct languages in recent years.

The US data however appears odd. This may be due to some much needed updates to individual languages statuses checked since 2009. I believe that Ethnologue had fewer resources at the time to check back on all the languages in their database. Approximately 20-30 years (since the 1980s and 1990s) passed before much of the Ethnologue data was updated. Unfortunately, there are so many contradictions in the data: a large amount of work still needs to be done on Ethnologue if it’s going to paint an accurate picture of world language vitality statistics.

Language tallies are difficult

The problem with counting languages by country as Ethnologue does, is that it claims some languages are endangered on one side of the border but in good health on the other side of a border. This conflates language vitality statistics. In such cases, there's no need to count such a language as endangered at all. By analogy, that would be like hypothetically calling English an endangered language in France, even though it's the national language of the country next door. Why put English on the endangered language list? Ethnologue doesn’t do this in situations where it’s obvious, but why maintain two standards and do this to minor languages?

It is much better to count languages by their classification in language families rather than by countries and political boundaries (which is messy, and the reason why large tech companies like Google have different versions of their maps for every country). On the other hand, Glottolog has analyzed every possibility of a duplicate and these duplicates along with extinct languages have been removed from the total worldwide count of languages in the next graph, and hence why the total number of languages is much lower than what Ethnologue reports.

How can we determine when languages are going to die? This is based on Ethnologue's rating and description for each of these labels for each language.

Languages that have about 10 years left are those spoken only by a few elders. Those that have about 25 years left are those spoken only by the grandparent generation. Those that have about 50 years left are those spoken by parents who are not passing their language on to their children. And those that have about 75 years left are where children know the languages but are reluctant to use them. Since we are aware of this situation, it's now possible to stave off language death.

If you are personally interested in this endeavour, and are in contact with a language that you’d like to make freely and widely available on Glossika’s platform, and you have access to translators and recording equipment and native speakers, then please contact Glossika and let us know.

Language Revitalization Efforts

In the UK: Cornishcor, Manxglv (in development and released on Glossika!)
In the USA: Barbareñoboi, Catawbachc, Clallamclm, Northern Ohlonecst, Lushootseedlut, Miamimia, Natchezncz, Osageosa, Potawatomipot, Quinaultqun, Tolowatol, Tunicatun, Unamiunm, Wampanoagwam, Wyandotwya
In Australia: Kaurnazku, Daungwurrungdgw

Of the 19 languages tagged as undergoing revitalization, I notice that these only include efforts in English speaking countries. This appears to be largely skewed because the reports themselves are written and published by primarily English speakers.

Here in Taiwan where I live, there are revitalization efforts with several languages, and after reviewing videos of those involved in the efforts of some of the languages in the United States, I can say that the efforts in Taiwan are not just equal, but stronger. You would need to understand Chinese to find out about all of this effort, but there are now interactive online dictionaries with tens of thousands of recordings, stories, publications, speech competitions, and all children in Taiwanese schools, indigenous or not, may choose an indigenous language of their choice and have access to teachers, all of which is funded by the government. I'm under the impression that previous English-language publications are only reporting on the revitalization efforts in English-dominant countries, which means this is only a small glimpse of the effort that is going on worldwide.

Thaossf, Sirayafos

Although Thao passed away in 2017 and is now listed as "dormant", I discuss in the Vitality Report how much this language is still being used (in social media and in real life), and this effort definitely cannot be underestimated compared to the revitalization efforts in the United States. The government holds proficiency testing in all of Taiwan's indigenous languages annually, in addition to events like speech competitions. Another extinct language, Siraya, is not recognized by the government, but is also undergoing revitalization efforts by descendants.

Taiwan is only one small corner of the world. I believe these efforts are being undertaken in more places than we can imagine. In stark contrast to all this globalization, people are increasingly valuing their cultural heritage and the languages that gave them their culture.

How to Measure Language Vitality

What is a good way to measure language vitality, even among the friends and families that you personally know? You don't need a PhD in Linguistics to figure it out. There's a very easy way:

Pay close attention to the languages that teenagers use with each other since language plays such an important role in identity for those coming of age. The languages that teenagers use are the languages that will define them for life. They may, reluctantly, speak a language with an older member of the family, but you can tell that they are very unlikely to continue the use of this language especially with their own children one day. If this trend is absolute among all teenagers of the same age, then the fate is sealed for such a language. If a few teenagers quite happily use the language among themselves, even if just occasionally, then the language has a strong chance of getting passed on to another generation.

Vitality Statistics by Language Families

The following pie charts display language vitality by either language families or groups of language families to give you an idea of how healthy those families are. I have lumped several language families together by region for ease of readability, as most individual language and family names are outside of common knowledge.

You will notice that Australia and the Americas have a small percentage of healthy languages. If you'd like to know the names of the healthy and endangered languages for any grouping below, then download the Vitality Report PDF here.

World: 8248 languages (including 806 extinct and 213 unattested)

2018 Language Vitality of all languages in the world

Africa Region

2018 Language Vitality of Afroasiatic, Atlantic-Congo, Mande, Nilo-Saharan, Southern, and other African languages

Afroasiatic Family: 375 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Afroasiatic languages

Subsaharan African Families: 1845 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Atlantic-Congo, Mande, Nilo-Saharan, Southern, and other African languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Africa:
Atlantic
Congo		 Akpes
Edoid		 22 3 1
Bantoid 79 40 23 3 5 6 5
Bantu Ababuan 10 1 2 3 4 2
B10 3 1 1 2
Bafia 2 t s
Bangi
Ntomba		 29 2 1
Basaa 1 1 3
Botatwe 8 2
Central
Kenya		 5 3 1
Corridor 12 2 2
Great
Lakes		 2 35 20 5 1 1
Kela
Ntomba		 14
Kele 5 1
Keleic 9 1 2
Kili-
manjaro
Taita		 4 3 1 1
Kongo 19 3 2 1
Koyo
Mboshi		 3 1 2
Lebonya 6 1
Likouala
Sangha		 4 2 3 1
Luban 8 4
Lundu
Balong		 3 1 3
Luyana 6
Makka
Njem		 12 4 2
Mbam 3 4 5 1 1
Njebe
Mbete
Teke		 49 11 1
NE Coast 1 13 11 5 1 2
Northeast
Savannah		 2
Nyanga
Mituku
Lega		 9 2
Nyaturu
Nilamba		 2 1
Other 5 3
Rufiji
Ruvuma		 8 2 2 1
Sabi 1 2 4
Sawabantu 4 2 5 1
Sheke 1 1
Shona 6 2
South
Tanzania
Highlands		 3 4 3
Southern 9 18 8
Sukuma
Nyamwezi		 2 1 2
Tumbuka
Sena
Nyanja		 6 3 1
Yanzi 12
Yaunde
Fang		 5 1
Benue
Congo		 4 1
Benue
Congo
Plateau		 48 7 4 2 3 3 1
Bua
Kim
Day		 11 1 1 2
Cameroun
Ubangian		 1 135 69 13 6 3 7 2 3
Defoid 12 4 1
Delta
Cross		 41 9 4 2 1 1
Ebira
Nupoid		 8 2
Idomoid 6 2
Igboid 4 3
Jukunoid 8 4 1 1 1
Kainji 31 7 1 1 8 3 1
Kru 20 15 3
Kwa
Volta
Congo		 40 34 1 2 1 1 2
Limba 2
Mel 5 3 2
North
Volta
Congo		 1
North
Central
Atlantic		 29 16 3 1 1 1
Other 1 1 2 1 1
Volta
Congo		 1 1 2 1 1
Africa:
Mande		 Bisa
Busa		 5 4
Duun
Bobo		 6 1 1
Kpelle 1 2
Manding
Kpelle		 20 6 1 1 1
Mende
Loma		 2 4
Soninke
Bozo		 4 1 1
SE 4 6 1 1
Africa:
Nilo
Saharan		 Central
Sudanic		 39 16 1 3 1 3
Daju 3 2 1 1
Eastern
Jebel		 1 1 1 2
Fur 2
Bumuz 3
Kadugli
Krongo		 1 4 1
Koman 2 2
Kuliak 1 2
Maban 6 1 1 1 1
Nilotic 24 22 3 2 2 1
Nubian 2 1 4 3 3
Nyima 1 1
Other 2 1
Saharan 8 2
Songhay 8 1 1
Surmic 5 5 1
Tamaic 4
Africa:
Other		 Blue
Nile
Mao		 1 1 2
Dizoid 2 1
Dogon 17 1 2
Heibanic 5 3 1 1
Ijoid 6 3 1
Katla
Tima		 1 1 1
Kresh
Aja		 1 1
Narrow
Talodi		 2 4 1 1
North
Omotic		 14 2 2 1
Other 3 1 1 1 1 1 2
Rashad 2
South
Omotic		 4 1
Africa:
South		 Khoe 8 3 1 1 1
Kxa 3 1
Other 1 1
Tuu 2 1 5

Europe Region

2018 Language Vitality of Europe's languages

Indo-European Family: 594 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Indo-European languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Indo
European		 Albanian 1 1 1 1
Anatolian 10
Armenian 1 1 1
Balto
Slavic		 14 5 1 1 2 2 4
Celtic Brythonic 1 1 1
Goidelic 3 1
Other 1 7
Germanic East 2
North 5 3 1 4 2
West 6 42 14 4 7 2 2 1 12
Hellenic Ancient 2
Koine 1
Modern 1 1 1 2
Mycenaean 1
Indo
Aryan		 6 132 40 19 7 1 3 4 7 6
Iranian 4 41 5 6 29 1 1 1 13
Italic
Romance		 Eastern 1 1 2
Galician 2 7 2 3 3 1
Gallo
Italic		 2 1 1 3 1
Gallo
Rhaeto		 3 8 1 5 4 1 1
Iberian 1 4 1 1 1 2
Italo
Dalmatian		 1 2 1 1
Latino
Faliscan		 2
Occitan 1 1 1 1
Sabellic 3
Southern 3 2
Western 1 1
Other 6 1

Caucasus Families: 47 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Caucasian languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Caucasian Avar
Andic		 3 5 1
Dargin 4 1
Hurro
Urartian		 2
Kartvelian 1 2 1 1 1
Lezgic 3 3 2 1 1
Nakh 2 1
Northwest 1 2 1
Other 1 1
Tsezic 1 4

Asia-Pacific Region

2018 Language Vitality of Asian-Pacific languages

Southeast Asia (excluding Austronesian)

2018 Language Vitality of Southeast Asian languages

Eurasian Families: 169 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Uralic, Turkic, Tungusic, Mongolic, Siberian, Korean, Japanese, languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Eurasia Ainu 1 2
Chukotko
Kam-
chatkan		 1 1 2 1
Isolates 2 2 1 1 6
Japonic Other 1 2 1
Ryukyuan 11
Koreanic 1 1
Mongolic 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 1
Tungusic 1 2 3 1
Turkic Bolgar 1 1
Kipchak 2 3 5 1 2 1
Oghuz 3 3 1 2 1
Siberian 3 1 4 1 2
Turkestan 1 3 1 2
Uralic Finnic 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1
Mari 1 1
Mordvin 2
Permian 3 1
Sami 4 1 4 1 1
Samoyedic 1 1 1 3 3
Ugric 1 1 2 2 1 2
Yeniseian 1 2 5 3
Yukaghir 1 2 1

Hmong-Mien Family: 39 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Hmong-Mien languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Hmong
Mien		 Hmongic 24 3 4 2 1
Mienic 4 1

Sino-Tibetan Family: 498 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Sino-Tibetan languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Sino
Tibetan		 Bodic 1 57 3 14 3 1 2
Brahma-
putran		 21 10 4 1 1 4
Burmo
Qiangic		 Burmish 1 10 4 1 1 1
Loloish 33 3 43 14 4 3 1
Mondzish 5 1 1
Na
Qiangic		 9 1 6 7 1 1
Other 1 1
Dhimalish 2
Himalayish Maha-
kiranti		 6 3 24 5 2 2 2
Other 1 1
Karenic 8 7 4 1
Kho
Bwa		 7
Kman
Meyor		 1 1
Kuki
Chin
Naga		 39 41 2 1 1
Macro
Bai		 4 1 1
Macro
Tani		 3 4 5
Miji 2
Mishmic 2
Mruic 1 1
Nungish 2 1
Other 1 1 1 1
Raji-Raute 1 1 1
Sinitic 1 14 4 2 1 1 3
Tujia 2

Dravidian Family: 84 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Dravidian languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Dravidian Central 3 2
North 2 2 1
Other 1 3
South Gondi 6 3
Konda 2 2 1
Other 1
Tamil 1 24 7 8 3 2
Telugu 4 1
Tulu 1 1 2 1

Tai-Kadai Family: 94 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Tai-Kadai languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Tai-
Kadai		 Hlai 3
Kam-Tai Beic 2
Daic 2 36 5 9 2 1 1 2
Kam-Sui 6 5 1
Lakkia-
Biao		 4
Kra 6 1 3 5

Austroasiatic Family: 163 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Austroasiatic languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Austro-
asiatic		 Aslian 6 1 9 1 1 1
Bahnaric 24 5 7 1
Katuic 10 1 3 1
Khasic 5
Khmeric 1 1 1
Khmuic 5 1 1 1 1
Mangic 1 1 1
Monic 1 1 1
Munda 13 5 2 1 1 1
Nicobaric 3 1
Other 2
Palaungic 11 5 4 1 1 1 1
Pearic 1 1 3 1
Vietic 1 3 3 2 1

Austronesian: 1275 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Austronesian languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Austro-
nesian		 Central MP NW
Sumatra		 1 80 13 34 9 6 7 3 8
East MP Central
Pacific		 4 13 10 6 10 1 1
Melanesian 3 7 9 8 4 4 1 2
Micronesia 2 10 3 2 1 2 1
Oceanic 27 8 3 2 7 2
SHWNG 10 1 20 10 1 2 2
Solomon 10 13 1 1
Vanuatu 32 13 38 7 5 8 1
Western
Oceanic		 86 85 31 14 4 9 7
Formosan 2 5 1 1 5 3 3
Malayo
Poly-
nesian		 Barito 1 20 5 10 1
Celebes 13 7 28 11 4 1
Javanese 2 1 2 1
Land Dayak 10 1 3
North
Borneo		 23 2 51 13 3 2 1
NW Sumatra 2 3 7
Other 2 8 9 8 4 1 1
Philippine 1 73 52 15 6 2 7 1
S Sulawesi 14 7 6 1 2
Sumbawan 3 38 11 18 3 1 3 1
Other 4

New Guinea Families: 860 languages

2018 Language Vitality of New Guinean languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
New
Guinea		 Amto
Musan		 2
Angan 1 9 3
Anim 7 2 5 1 1 1
Arafundi 4
Baibai
Fas		 1
Baining 4 1 1
Bayono
Awbono		 2
Bogia 2
Border 8 1 3 3
Bosavi 1 4 1 1
Bulaka River 1 1
Dagan 3 4 1
Doso
Turumsa		 1 1
E Bird's
Head		 3
East
Kutubu		 1 1
East
Strickland		 2 4
Eastern
Trans-Fly		 3 1
Eleman 1 3
Geelvink
Bay		 1 1 5 2 1
Goilalan 1 5
Greater
Kwerba		 4 1 2
Hatam
Mansim		 1 1
Inanwatan 1 1
Kamula
Elevala		 1 2
Kayagaric 2 1
Kiwaian 1 5
Koam 3
Koiarian 1 5 2
Kolopom 2 1
Konda
Yahadian		 2
Kwalean 1 1 1
Kwomtari
Nai		 2
Lakes
Plain		 8 3 5 2 1 1
Left May 2 3 1
Lepki
Murkim		 2
Lower
Sepik
Ramu		 17 5 4 3 1
Mailuan 5 1 2
Mairasic 1 1 1
Manubaran 1 1
Mombun
Koneraw		 1 1
Morehead
Wasur		 9 1 4 1 4
Namla
Tofanma		 1 1
Ndu 5 7 1
Nimboranic 1 3 1
North
Bougainville		 2 2
North
Halmahera		 6 5 1 2 2
Nulear
Torricelli		 28 4 14 6 2
Nuclear
Trans
New Guinea		 Asmat
Awyu
Ok		 27 7 10 3 1 1
Chimbu
Wahgi		 3 14
Dani 3 9 1
Enga
Kewa
Huli		 1 13
Finisterre
Huon		 30 18 6 1 2 3 1
Greater
Binan-
derean		 3 10
Kainantu
Goroka		 4 21 1 1 1
Madang 58 16 17 7 4 4 1
Mek 4 4
Paniai
Lakes		 1 4
Other 21 14 9 2 3 4 1
Pahoturi 1 1
Pauwasi 1 1 2 1
Piawi 2
Senagi 1 1
Sentanic 1 3
Sepik 14 12 4 1 3 2
Sko 6 1 1 1
Somahai 2
S Bird's
Head		 2 1
South
Bougainville		 4 5
Suki
Gogodala		 1 2 1
Taulil
Butam		 1 1
Teberan 2
Timor
Alor
Pantar		 16 5 1
Tor
Orya		 5 6 1 1 1
Turama
Kikori		 3 1
Walioic 1 1
W Bird's
Head		 3 2
West
Bomberai		 1 1 1
Yareban 2 2 1
Yuat 4

Australia Families: 346 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Australian languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Australia Bunaban 2
Daly 1 1 1 10 1 3
Garrwan 2
Giimbiyu 3
Gun-
winyguan		 1 3 4 4
Iwaidjan 1 1 1 1 1
Jarrakan 1 2
Limilngan
Wulna		 2
Mangarrayi
Maran		 1 2 1 1
Maningrida 1 1 1 1
Marrku
Wurrugu		 2
Mirndi 2 1 2
Nyulnyulan 1 1 1 7
Other 1 2 1 5
Pama
Nyungan		 Arandic
Thura
Yura		 1 3 1 1 3 7
Desert
Nyungic		 2 6 1 3 3 7 1 1
East
Queensland
Border		 4
Ganaic 1 1
Greater
Maric		 3 17
Kalkatungic 2
Karnic 2 13
Maleay
New
England		 2
Ngarna 1 4
Nyawaygic 3
Other 1 1 2 1
Paman 1 2 2 3 8 2 44
Rock-
hampton
Gladstone		 2
SE 1 1 4 7 23
SW 1 1 1 13 3 10
Yarli
Baagandji		 1 1
Yimidhirr
Yalanji
Yidinic		 1 1 1 1 2
Yuulngu 3 2 2 2 1
Tangkic 3 1
Tasmanian 6
Worrorran 1 3 1 5
Yangmanic 1 1 1

Americas (Region): 1211 Languages

2018 Language Vitality of American languages

North America Region: 651 languages

2018 Language Vitality of North and Central American languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
North
America		 Algic 1 3 4 13 7 2 3 5 7
Atha-
baskan
Eyak
Tlingit		 Apache 3 1 1 1
Atha-
baskan		 1 1 1 9 10 6 4 5 1
Other 1 1
Caddoan 1 2 2
Chibchan Isthmic 5 2 1 2
Magda-
lenic		 3 2 3 1 2 4
Other 1 1
Chimakuan 1 1
Chinook 1 2
Chumash 1 5
Cochimi
Yuman		 1 1 3 2 3 1
Coosan 1
Eskimo
Aleut		 1 3 1 3 2 1 1
Haida 2
Huavean 1 3
Iroquoian 1 2 2 2 1 1 2
Isolates 1 2 1 2 2 5 16
Jicaquean 1 1
Kalapuyan 3
Keresan 1 1
Kiowa
Tanoan		 1 3 1 1 2
Lencan 2
Maiduan 1 2 1
Mayan Cholan 1 3 1 2
Chujean 2
Huastecan 1 1
Kanjo-
balan		 1 2 1
Mamean 3 1
Quichean 5 2 2 1
Yucatecan 3 1
Misumalpan 2 1 1 1
Miwok
Costanoan		 1 2 5 5
Mixe
Zoque		 Mixe 2 6 2 1
Zoque 3 1 1 1 2
Mixed 1
Muskogean 3 1 2 1
Other 1
Oto-
manguean		 Amuzgo 1 1 1
Chatino 1 2 2 1 1
Chinantec 5 5 2 1 1
Cuicatec 1 1
Matlatzinca 2
Mazahua 1 1
Mazatec 6 1 1
Mixtec 20 9 14 5 2 1
Otomi 1 5 1 2
Otopamean 1
Pame 2 1
Popoloca 2 1 3 1 2
Tlapanec
Manguean		 1 2 1 3
Triqui 1 2
Zapotec 15 20 11 7 2 2 1
Palaih-
nihan		 1 1
Plateau
Penutian		 1 2 1 1 1
Pomoan 1 2 3 1
Salishan 3 5 2 8 5 2
Shastan 3
Siouan 2 3 1 4 1 3 4
Tarascan 2
Tequis-
tlatecan		 1 1 1
Totonacan 3 3 4 2
Tsimshian 3
Unattested 1
Uto
Aztecan		 Cahitan 1 1
Californian 2 3 2
Corachol 3
Corachol
Aztecan		 1 1
Nahuatl 6 9 7 5 1 1
Northern 1 1
Numic 2 1 3 1
Opata
Eudeve		 2
Southern 2
Tarahumara
Guarijio		 1 1 2 1 1 1
Tepiman 2 2 1 1
Wakashan 2 1 2 1
Wintuan 1 1
Xincan 5
Yokutsan 1 3
Yuki
Wappo		 2

South America Region: 560 languages

2018 Language Vitality of South American languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
South
America		 Araucanian 1 1
Arawakan Central
Maipuran		 2 2 1 2
Eastern
Maipuran		 1 1
Northern
Maipuran		 2 3 4 2 3 4 3 20
Other 2
Southern
Maipuran		 1 6 7 3 1 2 4 1
Western
Maipuran		 1 1 1
Arawan 1 2 1 1 1 2
Aymaran 1 1 1
Barbacoan 1 3 1 1 1
Boran 1 1
Bororoan 1 1 1
Cahuapana 1 1 1
Cariban 5 4 8 2 4 3 14 1
Chapacuran 1 2 1 1 7
Charruan 1 2
Chicham 1 3
Chocoan 2 3 2 2 2
Chonan 1 3
Guahiboan 2 3
Guaicuruan 3 1 1
Harakmbut 2
Hibito
Cholon		 2
Huarpean 2
Huitotoan 1 2 1 1 2
Isolates 3 4 6 3 4 11 8 25
Jodi
Saliban		 3 1
Kakua
Nukak		 1 1
Kamakuanan 4
Kariri 2
Katukinan 1 1
Kawesqar 1 2
Lengua
Mascoy		 1 2 1 1
Matacoan 2 3 2
Nadahup 3 1
Nambi-
quaran		 1 1 1 3 4
Nuclear
Macro
Je		 2 5 3 2 3 2 3 10
Pano
Tacanan		 Other 6
Panoan 5 5 2 3 5 2 16
Tacanan 1 2 1 1 1 1
Peba
Yagua		 1 2
Puri
Coroado		 2
Quechuan Type 1 1 8 3 6 1
Type 2 2 1
Type 2B 4 4 5 1
Type 2C 7 1 1
Ticuna
Yuri		 1 1
Tucanoan 2 6 8 2 1 4 3
Tupian Arikemic 1 1
Maweti
Guaraní		 1 7 5 15 4 1 5 5 6
Monde 1 1 1 1
Mundu-
rukuic		 1 1
Other 2
Purubora
Ramarama		 1
Tuparic 1 2 3 2
Yuruna 1 1 1
Uru
Chipaya		 1 1
Yanomamic 2 2 1
Zamucoan 1 1 1
Zaparoan 2 1 3

Sign Languages: 183 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Sign languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Sign
Language		 Arab 4 3
Auxiliary 1 1 1
BSLic 2 3 1 1
Chile
Paraguay
Uruguay		 1 2
CSLic 3 2
Deaf 14 14 1 1
DGSic 4
Indo
Pakistani
Nepalese		 1 2
JSLic 1 1 1
LSFic 15 32 4 2 1 1
OCBH 1 1 1
Pidgin 1
Russian 4 2
Spanish 1 1 1
Swedish 1 2 1
Village 33 2 4 2 3 2

Pidgins and Creoles: 80 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Pidgin and Creole languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Pidgin 2 1 1 54 22

Mixed: 22 languages

2018 Language Vitality of Mixed languages
Nat Vgr Dvl Rwk Thr Shf Mrb End Drm Ext Unt
Mixed
Languages		 12 1 2 1 2 2 2

Charts have not been provided for Artificial languages (16), Andamanese (12, but included in the counts for Asia and Southeast Asia), Unattested and Duplicates (213), and Other languages that are isolates (118). All of these have been included in the total World count.

Samples of Language Data from the Vitality Report

Order by Vitality and Family

National

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo
  • Afroasiatic
    • Cushitic: Somalisom
    • Semitic: Amharicamh, Maltesemlt, Modern Hebrewheb, Standard Arabicarb (5 in subgroup)
  • Austroasiatic
    • Khmeric: Khmerkhm
    • Vietic: Vietnamesevie (2 in subgroup)
  • Austronesian
    • Central Malayo-Polynesian: Tetun Dilitdt
    • East Malayo-Polynesian: Gilbertesegil, Marshallesemah, Niueanniu, Samoansmo, Tahitiantah, Tongaton
    • Malayo-Polynesian: Chamorrocha, Colloquial Malayzlm, Filipinofil, Indonesianind, Palauanpau, Plateauplt, Standard Malayzsm (14 in subgroup)
  • Caucasian
    • Kartvelian: Georgiankat (1 in subgroup)
  • Dravidian
    • South: Tamiltam (1 in subgroup)
  • Eurasia
    • Japonic: Japanesejpn
    • Koreanic: Koreankor
    • Mongolic: Halh Mongoliankhk
    • Turkic: Kazakhkaz, Kirghizkir, North Azerbaijaniazj, Northern Uzbekuzn, Turkishtur, Turkmentuk
    • Uralic: Estonianekk, Finnishfin, Hungarianhun (12 in subgroup)
  • Indo-European
    • Albanian: Toskals
    • Armenian: Eastern Armenianhye
    • Balto-Slavic: Belarusianbel, Bosnianbos, Bulgarianbul, Croatianhrv, Czechces, Lithuanianlit, Macedonianmkd, Montenegrincnr, Polishpol, Russianrus, Serbiansrp, Slovakslk, Sloveneslv, Ukrainianukr
    • Germanic: Afrikaansafr, Bislamabis, Danishdan, Dutchnld, Englisheng, Faroesefao, Germandeu, Icelandicisl, Norwegiannor, Swedishswe, Tok Pisintpi
    • Hellenic: Modern Greekell
    • Indo-Aryan: Bengaliben, Dhivehidiv, Hindihin, Nepalinpi, Sinhalasin, Urduurd
    • Iranian: Dariprs, Southern Pashtopbt, Tajiktgk, Western Farsipes
    • Italic-Romance: Catalancat, Frenchfra, Haitianhat, Italianita, Papiamentopap, Portuguesepor, Romanianron, Seselwa Creole Frenchcrs, Spanishspa (47 in subgroup)
  • North America
    • Eskimo-Aleut: Kalaallisutkal (1 in subgroup)
  • Sino-Tibetan
    • Bodic: Dzongkhadzo
    • Burmo-Qiangic: Burmesemya
    • Sinitic: Mandarincmn (3 in subgroup)
  • South America
    • Tupian: Paraguayan Guaranígug (1 in subgroup)
  • Tai-Kadai
    • Kam-Tai: Laolao, Thaitha (103 in group)

Vigorous

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo
    • Akpes-Edoid: Akpesibe, Akukuayk, Binibin, Ehueunehu, Emai-Iuleha-Oraema, Enwanenv...

      (3087 in group)

Developing

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo
    • Akpes-Edoid: Isokoiso, Ivbie North-Okpela-Arheatg, Urhobourh

    • Bantoid: Aghemagq, Awingazo, Babankibbk...

      (1463 in group)

Reawakening

  • Australia
    • Pama-Nyungan: Kaurnazku
      (1 in subgroup)
  • Indo-European
  • North America

Threatened (75 years remain)

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo

Shifting (50 years remain)

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo
    • Bantoid: Duguridbm, Kwa’bko, Labirjku

    • Bantu: Dhaisodhs, Dimbongdii, Impfondobok, Kamikcu...

      (504 in group)

Moribund (25 years remain)

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo

Nearly Extinct (10 years remain)

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo

Dormant (speakers are not native)

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo
    • Cameroun-Ubangian: Duli-Geweduz, Nimbarinmr

    • Kainji: Damakawadam, Gamo-Ningibte, Ziriyazir (5 in subgroup)
  • Africa: Nilo-Saharan
    • Daju: Baygobyg (1 in subgroup)
  • Africa: Other
    • Narrow Talodi: Toronatqr...

      (228 in group)

Extinct (no speakers remain)

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo

Unattested

  • Africa: Atlantic-Congo

Order by Family and Vitality

Africa: Atlantic-Congo

Africa: Mande

Africa: Nilo-Saharan

Africa: Other

  • Blue Nile Mao: Ganzagza, Bambassimyf, Hozohoz, Sezesze
    (4 in branch)
  • Dizoid: Dizinmdx...

    96 in group)

Africa: South

Afroasiatic

  • Berber
    • Kabyle-Atlas: Central Moroccan Berbertzm, Ghomaragho, Tachelhitshi, Kabylekab, Senhaja de Srairsjs
      (5 in subbranch)
    • Libyan-Egyptian Oasis: Siwisiz...

      375 in group)

Australia

  • Bunaban: Bunababck, Gooniyandigni
    (2 in branch)
  • Daly: Murriny Pathamwf, Nangikurrungurrnam, Amiamy, Mullukmullukmpb, Marimanindjizmm...

    350 in group)

Austroasiatic

Austronesian

  • Central Malayo-Polynesian
    • NW Sumatra: Tetun Dilitdt, Maririmqi, Kobakpd, Loranglrn, Manombaiwoo, East Tarangantre, Barakaibaj...

      1275 in group)

Caucasian

Dravidian

  • Central: Southeastern Kolaminit, Duruwapci, Pottangi Ollar Gadabagdb, Northwestern Kolamikfb, Mudhili Gadabagau...

    70 in branch, 84 in group)

Eurasia

  • Ainu: Hokkaido Ainuain, Kuril Ainukuri1271, Sakhalin Ainusakh1245
    (3 in branch)
  • Chukotko-Kamchatkan: Chukchickt...

    169 in group)

Great Andamanese

  • Great Andaman: Aka-Beaabj, Akar-Baleacl, Aka-Kedeakx, Aka-Kolaky, Oko-Juwoiokj...

    12 in group)

Hmong-Mien

  • Hmongic: Pa Napana1310, Eastern Qiandong Miaohmq, Southern Qiandong Miaohms, Eastern Xiangxi Miaomuq, Western Xiangxi Miaommr, Small Flowerysfm...

    39 in group)

Indo-European

  • Albanian: Toskals, Ghegaln, Arbëreshaae, Arvanitikaaat
    (4 in branch)
  • Anatolian: Hittitehit, Carianxcr...

    594 in group)

Mixed

  • Mixed: Angloromanirme, Yenicheyec, Gurindji Kriolgjr, Sanqiaosanq1234, Traveller Norwegianrmg...

    22 in group)

New Guinea

  • Amto-Musan: Amtoamt, Siawimmp
    (2 in branch)
  • Angan: Tainaeago, Angaatahaagm, Ankaveaak, Akoyemiw, Baruyabyr, Simbarismb...

    860 in group)

North America

Other

  • Other: Quinquiquq, Traveller Scottishtrl, Carabayocby, Uru-Pa-Inurp, Gailgic, Kaimbéxai, Kambiwáxbw...

    118 in group)

Pidgin

Sign Language

Sino-Tibetan

South America

  • Araucanian: Mapudungunarn, Huillichehuh
    (2 in branch)
  • Arawakan
    • Central Maipuran: Enawené-Nawéunk, Mehinákummh, Parecíspab, Wauráwau, Yawalapitíyaw...

      560 in group)

Tai-Kadai

  • Hlai: Hlailic, Cuncuq, Jiamaojio
    (3 in branch)
  • Kam-Tai
    • Beic: Jizhaojizh1234, Lingaoonb
      (2 in subbranch)
    • Daic: Laolao, Thaitha...

      94 in group)

Unattested

  • Duplicate: Arakwalrkw, Olkololk, Mawayanamzx, =/Kx’au//’einaue, Ayiayx, Bubiabbx, Buganbgh...

    140 in group)

Unreal / Artificial

Alphabetical Index of Language Names

ǀGwi (Khoe): gwj, gwj
ǀNu (Tuu): ngh, ngh
ǀXam (Tuu): xam, xam
ǁAni (Khoe): hnh, hnh
ǁGana (Khoe): gnk, gnk
ǁXegwi (Tuu): xeg, xeg
ǂAmkoe (Kxa): huc, huc
!O!ung (Duplicate): oun, oun
=/Kx’au//’ein (Duplicate): aue, aue
’Are’are (Solomon): alu, alu
’Auhelawa (Western Ocean): kud, kud
A-Pucikwar (Great Andaman): apq, apq
A’ou (Kra): aou, aou
Aari (South Omotic): aiw, aiw
Aasáx (Cushitic): aas, aas
Abadi (Western Ocean): kbt, kbt
Abaga (Kainantu-Goroka): abg, abg
Abai Sungai (North Borneo): abf, abf
Abai Tubu-Abai Sembuak (North Borneo): abai1241, abai1241
Abanyom (Bantoid): abm, abm
Abau (Sepik): aau, aau
Abaza (Northwest): abq, abq
Abé (Kwa Volta-Congo): aba, aba
...
...
...
Zuni (Isolates): zun, zun
Zuojiang Zhuang (Daic): zzj, zzj
Zyphe (Kuki-Chin-Naga): zyp, zyp

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