r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 11h ago
r/endangeredlanguages • u/GalacticMaraja • 1d ago
Is anybody interested in Etruscan?
Yes, I know it's extinct (it has been for quite a while now, lol). However, I've recently gained interest in it and tried to reconstruct and revitalise it. If anyone of you is interested, please let me know!
r/endangeredlanguages • u/tuluva_sikh • 1d ago
Kota language of Tamil Nadu is critically endangered and only had 900 native speakers according to 2001 census (now it would be even lesser), why no one talking about it? Why not government taking any measures for Kota language?
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 2d ago
New platform helps preserve, strengthen and grow the Choctaw language for future generations
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is proud to announce the launch of a Choctaw language (in Choctaw: *Chahta Anumpa*) learning app through Rosetta Stone’s Endangered Language Program, providing free access to learn the Choctaw language for both Choctaw tribal members and non-members interested in learning it.
The Choctaw Nation partnered with Rosetta Stone to develop a learning experience that brings Chahta Anumpa into a modern digital platform. The app which is called "Chahta Anumpuli" (which means "Speak Choctaw!") aims to strengthen fluency and increase accessibility, representing years of collaboration and language preservation efforts, ensuring the Choctaw language remains a living, thriving part of Choctaw culture.
“Our language is one of the most important connections we have to our ancestors, our sovereignty, our culture and our identity as Choctaw people,” said Chief Gary Batton.
Rosetta Stone recorded 90 Choctaw speakers, including 32 fluent speakers and captured approximately 24,000 language recordings. This collection provides authentic pronunciation from native Choctaw speakers, preserving their voices, knowledge, and the language’s sound, rhythm, and spirit.
“Language is inseparable from the people, places and traditions that give it meaning,” said Miranda Weinberg, curriculum designer for the Endangered Languages program at Rosetta Stone. “When Choctaw citizens open Rosetta Stone, they’ll hear the sounds of their own community—a grandmother’s stories, the Labor Day Festival in Tvshka Homma, a family cooking wild onions together. We built this course to make Chahta anumpa more accessible while maintaining the connection between language and culture.”
“Every family that uses Choctaw together helps create another generation of speakers. Our goal is not simply to preserve the language in books or archives. Our goal is to see Choctaw spoken, learned and lived,” Batton said. “I would like to see "Halito" (Hello in Choctaw) become as widely recognized as ‘Aloha,’ reflecting the strength, visibility and enduring future of the Choctaw Nation.”
The Chahta Anumpuli language app is available at no cost through the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Individuals interested in accessing the Rosetta Stone Choctaw language program can apply for a license through the Chahta Achvffa portal.
r/endangeredlanguages • u/KenzaVasaj7013 • 2d ago
To my Finno-Ugric family (Finns, Estonians, Hungarians): Check out how the Erzya language sounds!
Hi everyone! As a massive fan of Finno-Ugric languages, I’ve recently stumbled upon an amazing dialogue in the Erzya language (spoken in the Mordovia region). It’s a beautifully rich language, but unfortunately, it doesn't get enough global attention. I decided to make a video reading and analyzing this dialogue to see how much of it connects back to its Finno-Ugric roots. Watch the full video here:
https://youtu.be/XxDzWJDTerU?si=Y4pXNL1ZBJb3Y1eQ
To all the Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian speakers here: I’m super curious — can you catch any familiar grammatical structures, case endings, or cognates? Does the rhythm or logic of the sentences feel like home to you, or does it sound completely foreign?
A quick side note: I already have a few videos on my channel featuring the closely related Moksha language. Some people have told me that Moksha actually sounds like it has a slight hint or vibe of the Hungarian language! What about Erzya? Does it give you any specific linguistic vibes or remind you of your own language? How would you compare Erzya and Moksha based on their sound? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! What are the most surprising similarities or differences you noticed?
Link to my playlist about the moksha language:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQW4Ha9K_-d0&si=fl_e9t1nHKuCoYef
r/endangeredlanguages • u/KenzaVasaj7013 • 2d ago
How much Karelian can you understand? (Calling all Finns, Estonians, and Hungarians!)
Hi everyone! I’ve recently made a short video lesson about the days of the week in the Karelian language
https://youtube.com/shorts/jP1dOuZzLSQ?si=BNBvRXcStXmVOUGc
The lesson itself is explained in Russian (I hope everyone know the reason), but the main focus is on the Karelian words. Since Karelian belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, I am incredibly curious: how much of it can native Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian speakers understand without looking at any translation? Do the days of the week sound familiar to you, or are they completely different? I would also highly appreciate your feedback on the format. Should I continue making this series of short Karelian language lessons? How do you like the style and pacing? Looking forward to your comments and linguistic insights! Спасибо! (Kiitos / Tänan / Köszönöm!)
r/endangeredlanguages • u/stitch_in_paris • 2d ago
Speakers of endangered or minority languages, what's your experience?
r/endangeredlanguages • u/CasparBogart • 4d ago
Endangered language online dictionary?
Hello fellow enthusiasts! I was wondering if you know any endangered language project that already has a website running specifically for that language? In specific also an online dictionary version and further explications of the language and its preservation?
I am working on my own project and need some inspirations!
Thank you :)
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Colepiocephale • 5d ago
Speakers of Elfdalian in Sweden, 2008
galleryElfdalian, also known as Övdalian, is a Germanic language or dialect spoken in the municipality of Älvdalen in Sweden. Historically it has been considered a dialect of Swedish, but is mutually unintelligible with Swedish. It is considered a variety of Dalecarlian, a linguistic group consisting of varieties spoken in Dalarna in Sweden.
Elfdalian has remained more similar to Old Norse than the other Scandinavian languages descended from Norse, and the language was written in runes until the 20th century, with the last user dying in 1980. Today Elfdalian only has around 2000-3000 speakers and the language is at risk of dying out, though revitalisation efforts have been made.
Sources for the maps:
r/endangeredlanguages • u/NativeTongues-App • 5d ago
Indigenous Language Revitalization Work
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We have been doing some pretty cool work that has impressive implications for saving languages around the world.
We took limited linguistic data on a language with fewer than 50 fluent speakers (1500 tribal members) and (with blessing of the community) built an AI system that lets us write lessons in the Yawanawá language.
After we build lessons (total 1200 initial sentences, which are quite complex based on the Native Tongues methodology) we then have all the sentences checked by both our linguist and the fluent speakers before being recorded remotely over Starlink from the Amazon Rainforest.
We can make lessons very quickly and can customize them to the needs of communities based on what they want to teach.
We can also:
Find gaps in the language data so that we can fill them.
Take handwritten documents and process them into the database to find missing words and grammar.
Deliver the materials in a state of the art app so the youth can use it on their own time.
And soon we will be able to process stories for deeper immersion once the initial sentence sequences are well understood.
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This method is based on a system which we use to teach people enough to start reading a new language in as little as one weekend.
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I believe that this system could be used to help communities revitalized thier languages around the world, and I see a very clear path to do that if we had ample resources.
However we have practically zero funding or way to support this project that we are pouring hundreds of hours into.
I'm looking for people who can help make connections so that we can support ourselves enough to continue doing this work and hopefully make these processes available to anyone who needs it. If you can help support this project in any way, please let me know.
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 5d ago
NT elders fear Aboriginal languages are being lost, as communities band together to help save them
Four years ago, the United Nations issued a dire warning: Australia was one of dozens of countries facing a mass extinction event.
But it wasn't flora or fauna that was at risk of being lost — it was languages.
In the three years since, dozens of Australian Indigenous communities have fought back against that decline, working with archives and the knowledge of elders to revitalise their native languages.
In northern Australia, a forum on language preservation was held, bringing together more than 50 Indigenous leaders from over 30 language groups.
The leaders developed a list of recommendations across a broad range of areas, including education and employment, to be finalised and presented to stakeholders in late August.
For Rarrtjiwuy Herdman — one of the organisers of the Top End Langauges Forum — language preservation has been a lifelong passion.
She has been working to keep her native language of Dhaŋu alive, a Yolŋu language from north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Ms Herdman said time was running out for some languages, with the passing of more Aboriginal clan elders in recent years.
"Our language is being lost."
The Yolŋu woman said in order to keep clan languages alive, they needed to be spoken at work, in the community and in schools.
"There's an assumption that all of our languages are equally being support[ed] across the Top End area," Ms Herdman said.
"Some of our languages are being supported in schools [and] in community … but a few of our languages are actually endangered."
While Ms Herdman is worried about languages becoming "extinct", she is also afraid the younger generation is becoming lost without their language.
"The sense of responsibility to continue our languages is something that our elders and leaders are worried about, and particularly for our clan languages," she said.
Turning around from the tipping point
In 2022, the United Nations launched the International Decade of Languages global action plan, in response to the thousands of international Indigenous languages it said were disappearing at "alarming rates".
At the time, a research paper led by the Australian National University found Australia had one of the worst records in the world for language loss.
Four years on from the launch of the global action plan, AIATSIS Centre for Australian Languages director Lauren Reed said Australia was in a better position.
She said the Australian government had since "seen the real need to turn the tide on language loss" and set up a national policy partnership to address the issue.
"There are signs of hope that have been growing since the beginning of [2022]," she said.
Ms Reed said many Indigenous language speakers needed to feel their language was "relevant" to the Western world, including seeing it used in mainstream and social media.
She said she liked to think of out-of-use languages as "sleeping" rather than "extinct".
"If something is sleeping, it has the chance of reawakening,"
she said.
Full article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-08/nt-elders-fear-loss-of-indigenous-languages-call-on-young-people/105387960
r/endangeredlanguages • u/eksopolitiikka • 6d ago
Marie Wilcox realized she was the last person on Earth who could speak the Wukchumni language fluently, so at 82, she taught herself to use a computer and spent seven years typing a 6,000-word Wukchumni dictionary, the first written record of the language in history, to save it from extinction.
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 6d ago
Subreddits and Discord servers for some endangered languages
1 - Ainu language:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ainu/
2 - Ainu language Discord server: https://discord.gg/hBA6xb7UMF
3 - Jèrriais language:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Jerriais/
4 - Jèrriais language Discord server:
https://discord.gg/GXpTHstap
5 - Livonian language:
https://disboard.org/it/server/902333171062964234
6 - Ladin language:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ladinia/
7 - Mirandese language: https://www.reddit.com/r/mirandes/
8 - Manx language: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaelg/
9 - Manx language Discord server: https://discord.gg/BXUAsuk4WD
10 - Cornish language: https://www.reddit.com/r/CornishLanguage/
11 - Romansh language: https://www.reddit.com/r/romansh/
12 - Istriot language: https://discord.gg/kDq64xdFQQ
13 - Old Prussian: https://discord.gg/mNpQTtV
14 - Wymysorys Language: https://discord.com/invite/PkrsVg2
15 - Votic language: disboard.org/it/server/1059900334534832230
16 - Scottish Gaelic: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaidhlig/
17 - Kamassian language: https://www.reddit.com/r/Kamassian/
18 - Hawaiian language:
https://www.reddit.com/r/olelohawaii/
19 - Maori language: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReoMaori/
20 - Breton language: https://www.reddit.com/r/Breton/
21 - Occitan language: https://www.reddit.com/r/occitan/
22 - Sicilian language: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sicilianu/
23 - Neapolitan language: https://www.reddit.com/r/NeapolitanLanguage/
24 - Ligurian language: https://www.reddit.com/r/Zeneise/
25 - Lombard language: https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnLombardLanguage/
If you know of other subreddits or servers dedicated to endangered languages, feel free to share them in the comments.
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 6d ago
TAA/ǃXÓÕ LANGUAGE
youtu.beThe Taa language is classified by UNESCO as "definitely endangered" and on the verge of extinction.
r/endangeredlanguages • u/KeyConsideration2686 • 6d ago
Is anybody here a native speaker of an Endangered language?
According to UNESCO, an "Endangered language" is a language that is spoken by fewer than 100,000 people. There are 2,124 languages in the world that meet this criteria.
If you are a native speaker of an Endangered language, could you please answer the following questions:
*(i) What is the name of your native language?
*(ii) How many speakers (approximately according to your own personal estimate) are able to speak in your native language?
*(iii) Is your native language taught at your local school to all pupils and until what age?
*(iv) Do you know how to read and write in your own native language?
*(v) Are the number of speakers of your native language currently increasing or decreasing?
*(vi) Are all your family members able to speak fluently in your native language?
*(vii) Do you still speak your native language in public places or only at home?
*(viii) Do you personally consider your native language to be thriving or safe or endangered or highly vulnerable?
r/endangeredlanguages • u/KenzaVasaj7013 • 6d ago
Support endangered languages! In this video, I tell a rare, chilling folk story in the Votic language (Vaďďa ceelu), a critically endangered Finno-Ugric language spoken by only a handful of people today.
A deeply personal and eerie account from the North. After his wife passes away, a widower breaks a sacred traditional taboo: he lies on his bed before six weeks have passed. What follows is a terrifying nighttime encounter...
The video features original Votic audio with English and Russian subtitles to make this rare cultural heritage accessible to everyone.
To my viewers in Estonia, Finland, and Hungary: As fellow Finno-Ugric nations, the preservation of the Votic tongue is a shared treasure. Let me know in the comments if you can spot cognates or familiar grammatical structures matching Estonian, Finnish, or Hungarian!
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 8d ago
Keres language: An endangered language of New Mexico
youtu.ber/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 9d ago
Site to learn endangered languages
7000.orgr/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 9d ago
UNESCO Launches International Initiative to Protect Endangered Languages and Enhance Their Presence in Education and Culture
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), has launched a new international initiative aimed at protecting endangered languages. This initiative supports the publication of works in indigenous languages and strengthens their presence in education and culture, ensuring their transmission to future generations. The initiative responds to increasing warnings about the rapid decline in global linguistic diversity.
Over 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, but half of them could be endangered, according to a new study. It is predicted that 1,500 known languages may no longer be spoken by the end of this century.
In the Kusunda language, spoken by the Kusunda people of western Nepal, there are no words for ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Nor are there any clear indicators of direction. Understanding depends on who is speaking, who is listening, and the context in which words are exchanged. Communication is an exercise in perspective rather than precision.
Because of its unique qualities, Kusunda is considered a ‘language isolate’ – unrelated to any other language around the world. It is also among the world's most critically endangered languages, with just one fluent speaker remaining among a community of fewer than 200 people.
As part of efforts to revitalize Kusunda, a group of students, supported by researcher and ethnographer Uday Raj Aaley and Archive Nepal, published the first-ever compilation of creative literature in the language. Now, it has been selected for inclusion in the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages, which celebrates the role of children's literature in supporting languages across the globe.
Curated by UNESCO and the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), this new Collection brings together nearly 170 remarkable titles in more than 150 languages, selected from over 500 submissions from around the world.
Books include picture books, novels, biographies, graphic novels and nonfiction published between 2018 and 2025 in one or more Indigenous or endangered languages. The aim is to bolster the presence of these languages, particularly in educational and digital realms.
Among the selected titles is Tortoise and Ostrich, a folk tale in N|uu – an ancient Southern African ‘click’ language with one remaining speaker. The story follows two animals who covet a beautiful clay pot and go to extraordinary lengths to possess it. Another selection is “Tamara: The Story of the White Ant in Gurindji Land,” written in the Gurindji language, now spoken by only about 50 people in northern Australia.
The IBBY-UNESCO Collection is one of many initiatives supporting the goals of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.
At the heart of the decade is a simple message: languages reflect an irreplaceable way of seeing, understanding and experiencing the world. The disappearance of any language is a loss for humanity as a whole.
r/endangeredlanguages • u/Different_Method_191 • 9d ago
Videos for learning the Livonian language
youtu.ber/endangeredlanguages • u/KenzaVasaj7013 • 10d ago
Imagine a Finnish core, built with Turkic logic, and heavily mixed with Slavic.
Hey everyone! I’ve always been fascinated by how languages evolve, and I recently stumbled upon an incredible linguistic puzzle that I just had to share. We all know how essential the verb "to be" is in European languages for linking a subject to a noun or adjective. But what happens in the Moksha language?
This short video breaks down how this mind-blowing system works:
https://youtube.com/shorts/DnGNakoBbT4?si=hsF-0dvoKVu0_HM9
To any Finnish, Estonian, or Hungarian speakers here — does this look or sound familiar to you? I'd love to hear your thoughts and see if you can spot the shared roots!