« Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish: Here's how to protect the blue heart of the planet | Main | Get to know Tinkering School through a webcomic »
19 February 2009
UNESCO's endangered language report: We've lost Manx
The newest edition of UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger totes up 6,000 world languages -- and counts 2,500 as endangered and 200 as completely lost. The interactive atlas, released today, ranks the 2,500 endangered languages by five levels of vitality: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct. This free, browsable resource complements a print version to be released next month. From UNESCO's announcement:
For example, the Atlas states that 199 languages have fewer than ten speakers and 178 others have 10 to 50. Among the languages that have recently become extinct, it mentions Manx (Isle of Man), which died out in 1974 when Ned Maddrell fell forever silent, Aasax (Tanzania), which disappeared in 1976, Ubykh (Turkey) in 1992 with the demise of Tevfik Esenc, and Eyak (Alaska, United States of America), in 2008 with the death of Marie Smith Jones.
Browse UNESCO’s Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger >>
For more on endangered languages, watch Wade Davis' 2003 TEDTalk on cultures at the far edge of the world:
UPDATE: Or check out this less-than-scholarly dictionary of endangered slang >>
Discuss this Blog Post
Loading Comments... 
Become a Fan of TED
on Facebook
Follow TED on Twitter:
@TEDNews | @TEDTalks
Subscribe to TED RSS feeds:
TED Blog | More RSS Options
Recent Comments
nonlinear on A new way to fight corruption: Shaffi Mather on TED.com
prithiviraj11 on The Buzz: Pranav Mistry awakens the Sixth Sense
BenoitEssiambre on How to expose the corrupt: Peter Eigen on TED.com
JaiKirdatt on TED banners are up!
jeffersonsmi on A warm embrace that saves lives: Jane Chen on TED.com
JoshaNaturalSchooling on TED's Facebook fans asked Gever Tulley absolutely anything -- and he answered
anilg on Q&A with Loretta Napoleoni: The ever-changing face of terrrorism
Goldernie on Geo-engineering to slow global warming: David Keith on TED.com
mollychester on TED Prize winner announced!
sedademirel on TEDxShekhavati: Against all odds
News from TED
Learn about TEDIndia conference >>
Find all our posts about TEDGlobal 2009 >>
Follow the TED Fellows blog >>
Throw your own TED-style event with TEDx >>
TED takeaway
TED ringtones:
TEDTalks Classic tune in [mp3] [m4r]
TEDTalks Phase II tune in [mp3] [m4r]
Subscribe to TED's weekly newsletter
Get the latest news on the TED Prize on TEDPrize.org >>
Archives
TED Bloggers
Chris Anderson | Curator
June Cohen | Director of TED Media
Amy Novogratz | TED Prize Director
Tom Rielly | Community
Bruno Giussani | TED European Director
Jason Wishnow | Director, Film + Video
Emily McManus | Editor, TED.com
Matthew Trost | Assistant Editor, TED.com
Shanna Carpenter | Writer and Community Organizer, TED.com
Diego Rodriguez | Guestblogger
Jane Wulf | TED Scribe
Blogs we watch
+ TEDPrize.org
+ TED Fellows blog
+ Thomas Dolby | TED Musical Director, blogging at ThomasDolby.com
+ Emeka Okafor | TEDAfrica Director, blogging at Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained
+ The indispensable Global Voices
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Powered by Movable Type
