Endangered languages are not "doomed" - they can be revitalized. People and communities around the world are revitalizing their languages. Visit the Revitalization Directory to learn more about these programs. There are many different ways that language revitalization can happen. To learn and think more about these possibilities, visit the Learning & Help Center.

This work is about more than language. The forces that cause languages to become endangered are things that everyone should be concerned about. Everyone can work to change the root causes of language endangerment. Learn more about supporting language revitalization as an ally.

Ang terminong "mga nanganganib na wika" ay kumplikado. Isa itong salita na malawakang ginagamit sa larangang ito sa loob ng ilang dekada, at pamilyar ang madla rito sa maraming bahagi ng mundo. Ito ay isang termino na makabuluhan sa mga pamahalaan, institusyon, NGO, at mga ahensya ng pagpopondo – ang ilang mga patakaran, batas, o gawad-tulong ay partikular para sa mga wikang “nanganganib”. Ito rin ay isang termino na maraming kaakibat na pasanin. Maraming masalimuot at balidong dahilan kung bakit hindi gusto ng ilang tao at komunidad ang terminong “nanganganib” na gamitin para sa kanilang mga wika, tulad ng pagtuon nito sa pagkalipol, pagsalalay nito sa biyolohikal na metapora ng wika, o pagkabigo nitong lagyan ng pangalan ang ugat ng pagkawala ng wika, bukod sa iba pang dahilan. Pinipili ng ibang mga tao at komunidad na ilarawan ang kanilang mga wika bilang "nanganganib," at nakikita nila ang salitang ito na kapaki-pakinabang. Isa itong salita na nagdadala ng maraming kahulugan, at kinikilala namin na maaaring ito ay isang hindi komportable o hindi naaangkop na termino sa ilang konteksto.

Binibigyang-priyoridad ng Proyekto para sa mga Nanganganib na Wika ang paggamit ng mas maingat at mas angkop na wika hangga't kaya, ngunit kung minsan ay gagamit din ng mga tanyag na terminolohiya upang malapitan at maunawaan ng publiko.

Maraming paraan para sukatin at maunawaan kung gaano nanganganib ang isang wika. Ginagamit ng Proyekto para sa mga Nanganganib na Wika (ELP) ang Language Endangerment Index (LEI), na binuo ng University of Hawaiʻi sa Mānoa Department of Linguistics, bilang bahagi ng Katalogo ng mga Nanganganib na Wika​​. Isinasaalang-alang ng LEI ang apat na salik sa pagsukat ng panganib sa wika: 1) ang bilang ng mga tao na matatas magsalita o marunong sa wikang pasenyas; 2) kung ang bilang ng mga tagapagsalita o nagsesenyas ay lumalaki, matatag, o lumiliit; 3) kung ang wika ay natututunan ng mga nakababatang henerasyon (pagpapasa mula sa isang henerasyon patungo sa susunod); at 4) sa anong aspeto ng buhay (mga domain ng paggamit) ginagamit ang wika. Magbasa pa tungkol sa LEI dito.

A dormant language is a language that does not have any living fluent speakers/signers. Languages that are not used are sometimes called “dead” or “extinct” (for example, in popular media or academia) but ELP does not use these terms for many reasons - learn more here. “Dormant” represents a sleeping state. When a language is sleeping, it can be awakened through revitalization. 

It's important to note that any count of endangered languages is just an estimate. This estimate is based on the information that is available to academic researchers, like ELP's Catalogue of Endangered Languages team at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. There are likely languages that academic researchers don't know about, and those are not included in this count. And even counting how many languages exist is difficult and complicated. 

Our best estimate of how many endangered languages there are is gathered from academic research and publications, communications with people in language communities, government censuses, community surveys, and other trustworthy sources. Learn more about our research here.

Language is much more than just a collection of words or a tool for communication: languages reflect all our different ways of being human. Indigenous languages, in particular, carry irreplaceable knowledge systems and cultural practices that are critical to their communities’ ways of knowing and being, worlds and worldviews. Language is at the heart of identity and culture.
 

Language endangerment is also about injustice. Language endangerment reflects violations of human rights, disruptions to lives and communities, and the destruction of knowledge and cultures. Put simply: the things that cause language endangerment make the world worse for everyone. 

Particularly for Indigenous Peoples, language revitalization is about connections: (re)establishing and renewing intergenerational relationships to lands, ancestors, human and beyond-human relatives, lifeways, worldviews, and social, cultural, and spiritual ways of knowing and being.

Language revitalization supports wellness: it’s linked to better mental, physical, and emotional health in Indigenous, endangered, and minoritized language communities. Language revitalization upholds human rights and the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, as affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Sustaining language diversity means sustaining a world with a greater diversity of knowledge, ways of living sustainably, and understandings of what it means to be human. A better world for languages is a better world for all.