Languages disappear when children stop learning them. An endangered language is one at serious risk of falling out of use, typically because its speaker community is shifting to a more dominant language.

UNESCO and other bodies classify endangerment by intergenerational transmission, absolute numbers of speakers, and domains of use. Causes include colonization, urbanization, boarding schools, and economic pressure. Loss of a language often means loss of unique knowledge encoded in its vocabulary and oral traditions.

Documentation projects record grammar, lexicon, and texts while speakers remain. Revitalization efforts support teaching, media, and community use. Each endangered language represents an irreplaceable part of human linguistic diversity.

• Language at risk of no longer being spoken
• Assessed by transmission and domains of use
• Threatened by social and economic pressure
• Target of documentation and revitalization