List of endangered languages in Central America

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Language Endangerment Status
Extinct (EX)
Endangered
Safe

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UNESCO Atlas of the World's
Languages in Danger categories

An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. UNESCO defines four levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct": [1]

Central America (Spanish: Centroamérica or América Central) is a central geographic region of the Americas. It is variably defined either as the southern portion of North America, which connects with South America on the southeast, or as a region of the American continent in its own right. [2] [3]

CountryLanguageEthnonymSpeakersSource
Costa Rica Boruca 5 women
30 to 35 nonfluent speakers
(1986 SIL)
(1991)
El Salvador Pipil 20
196,576
(1987)
(1987)
Guatemala Itza' 12
1,800
(1986 SIL)
(2001)
Nicaragua Rama 24
900
(1989 J Holm)
(2000 C Grinevald)
Panama San Miguel Creole French 3(1999 SIL)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brahui language</span> Dravidian language spoken in southwestern Pakistan and Afghanistan

Brahui is a Dravidian language spoken by the Brahui people who are mainly found in the central Balochistan Province of Pakistan, with smaller communities of speakers scattered in parts of Iranian Baluchestan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan and by expatriate Brahui communities in Iraq, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. It is isolated from the nearest Dravidian-speaking neighbouring population of South India by a distance of more than 1,500 kilometres (930 mi). The Kalat, Khuzdar, Mastung, Quetta, Bolan, Nasirabad, Nushki, and Kharan districts of Balochistan Province are predominantly Brahui-speaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endangered language</span> Language that is at risk of going extinct

An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead language". If no one can speak the language at all, it becomes an "extinct language". A dead language may still be studied through recordings or writings, but it is still dead or extinct unless there are fluent speakers. Although languages have always become extinct throughout human history, they are currently dying at an accelerated rate because of globalization, mass migration, cultural replacement, imperialism, neocolonialism and linguicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Pakistan</span> Overview of languages spoken in Pakistan

Pakistan is a multilingual country with over 70 languages spoken as first languages. The majority of Pakistan's languages belong to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family.

Lists of endangered languages are mainly based on the definitions used by UNESCO. In order to be listed, a language must be classified as "endangered" in a cited academic source. Researchers have concluded that in less than one hundred years, almost half of the languages known today will be lost forever. The lists are organized by region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saka language</span> Extinct Eastern Iranian language spoken from 100 BC to 1,100 AD

Saka, or Sakan, was a variety of Eastern Iranian languages, attested from the ancient Buddhist kingdoms of Khotan, Kashgar and Tumshuq in the Tarim Basin, in what is now southern Xinjiang, China. It is a Middle Iranian language. The two kingdoms differed in dialect, their speech known as Khotanese and Tumshuqese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Afghanistan</span>

Afghanistan is a linguistically diverse nation, with upwards of 40 distinct languages. However, Dari and Pashto are two of the most prominent languages in the country, and have shared official status under various governments of Afghanistan. Dari, as a shared language between multiple ethnic groups in the country, has served as a historical lingua franca between different linguistic groups in the region and is the most widely understood language in the country. Pashto is also widely spoken in the region; but the language does not have a diverse multi-ethnic population like Dari, and the language is not as commonly spoken by non-Pashtuns. Dari and Pashto are also "relatives", as both are Iranian languages.

References

  1. Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Memory of Peoples (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO Publishing. ISBN   978-92-3-104096-2 . Retrieved 2015-04-11.
  2. Central America Archived 2009-10-28 at the Wayback Machine , MSN Encarta. Accessed on line January 10, 2008. Archived 2009-10-31.
  3. "Central America", vol. 3, Micropædia, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1990, 15th ed. ISBN   0-85229-511-1.