In many parts of the world, languages are going extinct, and new research indicates this is the result of economic growth and expansion in those regions.
The authors of this new study, from the University of Cambridge, developed a map of "hotspots" of where languages are most threatened, specifically pointing out north Australia and the northwestern region of the U.S. and Canada. The map also looks at where future hotspots will happen, particularly in Brazil and Nepal.
Researchers searched for these global patterns by focusing on areas where there were only a few speakers of any specific language in specific areas, similar to how scientists search for animal species on the verge of extinction. Each of these regions experienced recent economic growth, with a higher GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, which researchers believe spurs less diversity in language.
The research team discovered that 25 percent of the world's languages could be extinct soon.
"As economies develop, one language often comes to dominate a nation's political and educational spheres," says Dr. Tasuya Amato, from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology. "People are forced to adopt the dominant language or risk being left out in the cold -- economically and politically."
The languages of indigenous people in the northwest portion of North America are rapidly disappearing. A language called Upper Tanana, spoken by an indigenous group in eastern Alaska, now only has 24 speakers. The native American language of Wichita, only had one speaker. Australia is also seeing aboriginal languages disappearing, including one that's already extinct, Margu.
Amato stressed the importance of preserving dying languages for maintaining human cultural diversity in the world. Understanding how languages go extinct is the first step in learning how to do that. Researchers hope their data can be used to forecast more hotspots, perhaps even preventing the loss of more languages.
"There exists detailed information on projected future changes in the environment, economies and climates," says Amano. "Using such information, together with the findings of this study and further analysis, we would like to understand what will happen to the world's languages, where it will happen and which languages will be threatened in particular."
Not only does the loss of language signify a loss of cultural identity, but previous studies have shown that children who are bilingual, those exposed to more than one language as babies, have better attention spans, higher IQs and a better vocabulary than their counterparts who are only exposed to one language.
This suggests that humans should not just be exposed to an international language, such as English, but also a native traditional language. This, in turn, increases linguistic diversity.
