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An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. The total number of languages in the world is not known. Estimates vary depending on many factors. Michael E. Krauss estimated that there are about 6000 languages in active use, as of 2007.[1] UNESCO also uses this figure.[2] Krauss goes on to define languages as "safe" if children will probably be speaking them in 100 years; "endangered" if children will probably not be speaking them in 100 years (approximately 60-80% of languages fall into this category); and "moribund" if children are not speaking them now. The total number of contemporary languages in the world is not known. Estimates vary depending on the extent and means of the research intended to discover them, the definition of a distinct language and the current state of knowledge concerning the identities and vital statistics of the various peoples of the earth. Even the number of languages that are known varies as some of them become extinct or are newly discovered within the lifetimes of the active investigators. One of the most active research agencies is SIL International, which maintains a database, Ethnologue, kept up-to-date by the contributions of linguists globally. Its 2005 count of the number of languages in its database, excluding duplicates in different countries, is 6912, of which 32.8% (2269) are in Asia and 30.3% (2092) are in Africa.[3] This contemporary tally must be regarded as a variable number within a range. Michael E. Krauss reported in 2007[1] "The worldwide total figure I have been using is 6000 extant languages, a nice round figure that happens to be one millionth of the human population, a kind of middle figure ...." Krauss defines languages as safe if children will probably be speaking them in 100 years; endangered if children will probably not be speaking them in 100 years; and "moribund" if children are not speaking them now. He estimates 15-30% (or 900-1800) of languages are moribund.[1]
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