Classification of Endangered Languages
Classification
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Lang_Status_List.svg
The UNESCO list has 6 categories of endangerment:
- Extinct: there are no speakers left (Note: The Atlas presumes extinction if there have been no known speakers since the 1950s.)
- Critically endangered: The youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently
- Severely endangered: The language is spoken by grandparents and older generations. While the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves
- Definitely endangered: Children no longer learn the language as a mother tongue in the home.
- Vulnerable: Most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g. home)
- Safe / Not Endangered: Is spoken by all generations and intergenerational transmission is uninterrupted (Note: These languages are not included in the Atlas because they are not endangered.)
