Languages Remaining

Every 14 days, a language dies forever

The Silenceof Extinction

7,168 languages exist today. Half will disappear by 2100. When a language dies, a universe of thought dies with it.

Scroll to witness

Kalaw Lagaw Ya

Chamicuro

Dumi

Ongota

Liki

Taushiro

Tanema

Njerep

Chemehuevi

Resígaro

Patwin

Kawésqar

The Weight of Words

A language is not just words—it is a way of seeing the universe

The Hopi language has no words for time as a flowing substance. The Pirahã language has no numbers beyond one and two. The Guugu Yimithirr language has no words for “left” or “right”—only cardinal directions. When these languages die, these ways of perceiving reality disappear forever.

Languages Already Lost

Eyak

Alaska, USA

Died: January 21, 2008

Last speaker: Marie Smith Jones

Ubykh

Caucasus / Turkey

Died: October 7, 1992

Last speaker: Tevfik Esenç

Siletz Dee-ni

Oregon, USA

Died: 1972

Last speaker: Alfred Lane

Boro (Australia)

Northern Territory

Died: 1974

Last speaker: Charlie Mungulda

Klallam

Washington State, USA

Died: February 4, 2014

Last speaker: Hazel Sampson

Livonian

Latvia / Estonia

Died: June 2, 2013

Last speaker: Grizelda Kristiņa

The Mathematics of Loss

43%

Endangered

Of all 7,168 known languages, over 3,000 are endangered

1/14d

Extinction Rate

One language dies approximately every two weeks

Global Speakers

96% of languages are spoken by only 4% of the world's population

~570

Critically Endangered

Languages with fewer than 10 fluent speakers remaining

Final phrases from vanishing tongues

"Ughunâ tânxwâ gáh siyé"

"I hear the birds"

Eyak — Extinct 2008

"Pşə gụəmə"

"My soul"

Ubykh — Extinct 1992

"Tił-til-a"

"To remember"

Haida — Critically Endangered

"Miyá gíshk"

"Good morning"

Klallam — Extinct 2014

But There Is Hope

Languages can be saved—and even revived

Hebrew was nearly extinct for everyday speech for nearly 2,000 years before being revived in the 20th century. The Māori language has recovered from near-extinction through immersion schools. Welsh has seen a renaissance through education and media policies.

Documentation projects, language nests, and digital archives are racing against time to preserve the voices of humanity. Every recording, every dictionary, every speaker matters.