In Danger of Extinction

The Berenstain Bears Now Speak Lakota

by Richard Brooks September 23, 2011 Entertainment

Just about everyone under the age of 50 has fond childhood memories of the Berenstain Bears. For decades, they have dominated children’s story hours in schools, libraries and homes. Over 260 of the books have been published in 20 different languages, and the Bear family has also made the leap from print to TV multiple [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

New Guinea’s Languages Fall Silent

by Tanguy July 26, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

The tiny island of New Guinea is a hotbed of linguistic diversity. Though the island is only 462,840 square kilometres in size, approximately one sixth of the world’s languages are spoken here. More than 1,000 languages have been counted on: around 800 in Papua New Guinea and 200 on the side of the island controlled [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Preserving Languages

by Tanguy July 5, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

Every two weeks, another language disappears from the world forever. According to National Geographic, more than half of the world’s 7,000 languages are expected to be extinct by the year 2100. According to Laura Welcher, a linguist with the Long Now Foundation, some experts believe the situation is even more dire, and that 90% of [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Last Two Speakers of Dying Language Won’t Speak

by Caroline Mikolajczyk April 18, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

It’s a story that’s been repeated thousands of times in the past: an indigenous language is eventually replaced by another, more common tongue, finally dying out completely along with its last speakers.

4 comments Read the full article →

Scottish Finger-Signing Gets Its Own Documentary

by Caroline Mikolajczyk March 30, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

We often read about the struggle to document and preserve endangered spoken and written languages. But what about disappearing sign languages? Deaf people all over the world have their own regional languages and methods of communicating, some of which are also vanishing.

1 comment Read the full article →

Is English Threatening German?

by Caroline Mikolajczyk March 17, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

According to The Guardian, some German linguists think so. Apparently English, German’s bigger brother, is encroaching on its sibling’s turf. Read more!

7 comments Read the full article →

Do You Speak Scots?

by Caroline Mikolajczyk March 7, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

If you’re not sure how to answer that question, a new website created by the Scots Language Center is designed to help clarify things. Find out more!

0 comments Read the full article →

Dream Inspires Native American Language Activist

by Caroline Mikolajczyk March 1, 2011 In Danger of Extinction

Linguist and Wampanoag language activist Jessie Little Doe Baird claims that the inspiration for the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project she founded came to her in a recurring dream she had as a young woman.

3 comments Read the full article →