Endangered languages

I read some interesting articles for a class about disappearing languages. It made me think about how little we value the language(s) we speak...Some researchers also compared endangered languages to endangered species, which I thought was neat. These are some quotes I pulled that I think are pretty interesting;

“If Taiap [a language spoken by fewer than 100 people in Papua New Guinea] were a rare species of bird or Ubykh [a language from Turkey whose last speaker died in 1992] a dying coral reef, maybe more people would know of their plight and be concerned. Yet in Papua New Guinea and all over the world, many unique languages are dying at an unparalleled rate Few people know or care. Should we be any less concerned about Taiap than we are about the passing of the California condor? ... While campaigns are mounted to protect and conserve whales, spotted owls, and other natural resources, languages are overlooked.”
Nettle, D. and Romaine, S. (2000) Vanishing voices: The extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Known levels of endangerment in animal and plant groups, and in human languages
Fish.....5%
Plants..........8%
Birds.........................11%
Mammals..............................................18%
Languages......................................................................................................................40+%
Harrison, K. D. (2007) When languages die: The extinction of the world’s languages and the erosion of human knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

“... cultural diversity and biological diversity are not only related, but often inseparable, perhaps causally connected through coevolution in specific habitats. Our research has shown quite striking correlations between areas of biodiversity and areas of highest linguistic diversity, allowing us to talk about a common repository of what we will call biolinguistic diversity: the rich spectrum of life encompassing all the earth’s species of plants and animals along with human cultures and their languages...

...As a uniquely human invention, language is what has made everything possible for us as a species: our cultures, our technology, our art, music, and much more. In our languages lies a rich source of the accumulated wisdom of all humans.”
Nettle, D. and Romaine, S. (2000) Vanishing voices: The extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

“The extinction of ideas we now face has no parallel in human history. Since most of the world's languages remain undescribed by scientists, we do not even know what it is we stand to lose...a tiny fraction of the vast knowledge that will soon be lost, an accretion of many centuries of human thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, infinity, cyclicity, the unknown and the everyday.”
Harrison, K. D. (2007) When languages die: The extinction of the world’s languages and the erosion of human knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

:)