How Many Languages Are There in the World.docx
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How Many Languages Are There in the World.docx
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HowManyLanguagesAreThereintheWorld
HowManyLanguagesAreThereintheWorld?
Theobjectofinquiryinlinguisticsishumanlanguage,inparticulartheextentandlimitsofdiversityintheworld’slanguages.Onemightsuppose,therefore,thatlinguistswouldhaveaclearandreasonablyprecisenotionofhowmanylanguagesthereareintheworld.Itturnsout,however,thatthereisnosuchdefinitecount—oratleast,nosuchcountthathasanystatusasascientificfindingofmodernlinguistics.Thereasonforthislackisnot(just)thatpartsoftheworldsuchashighlandNewGuineaortheforestsoftheAmazonhavenotbeenexploredinenoughdetailtoascertaintherangeofpeoplewholivethere.Rather,theproblemisthattheverynotionofenumeratinglanguagesisalotmorecomplicatedthanitmightseem.
Thereareanumberofcoherent(butquitedifferent)answersthatlinguistsmightgivetothisapparentlysimplequestion.
Morethanyoumighthavethought.
Whenpeopleareaskedhowmanylanguagestheythinkthereareintheworld,theanswersvaryquiteabit.OnerandomsamplingofNewYorkers,forinstance,resultedinanswerslike“probablyseveralhundred.”Howeverwechoosetocountthem,though,thisisnotclose.Whenwelookatreferenceworks,wefindestimatesthathaveescalatedovertime.The1911(11th)editionoftheEncyclopediaBritannica,forexample,impliesafiguresomewherearound1,000,anumberthatclimbssteadilyoverthecourseofthetwentiethcentury.Thatisnotduetoanyincreaseinthenumberoflanguages,butrathertoourincreasedunderstandingofhowmanylanguagesareactuallyspokeninareasthathadpreviouslybeenunderdescribed.Muchpioneeringworkindocumentingthelanguagesoftheworldhasbeendonebymissionaryorganizations(suchastheSummerInstituteofLinguistics)withaninterestintranslatingtheChristianBible.Asof1997,atleastaportionoftheBiblehadbeentranslatedinto2,197differentlanguages,stillalongwayshortoffullcoverage.Themostextensivecatalogoftheworld’slanguages,generallytakentobeasauthoritativeasany,isthatoftheEthnologueorganization,whosedetailedclassifiedlistcurrentlyincludes6,809distinctlanguages.
Afamilyisagroupoflanguagesthatcanbeshowntobegeneticallyrelatedtooneanother.ThebestknownlanguagesarethoseoftheIndo-Europeanfamily,towhichEnglishbelongs.ConsideringhowwidelytheIndo-Europeanlanguagesaredistributedgeographically,andtheirinfluenceinworldaffairs,onemightassumethatagoodproportionoftheworld’slanguagesbelongtothisfamily.Thatisnotthecase,however:
thereareabout200Indo-Europeanlanguages,butevenignoringthemanycasesinwhichalanguage’sgeneticaffiliationcannotbeclearlydetermined,thereareundoubtedlymorefamiliesoflanguages(about250)thantherearemembersoftheIndo-Europeanfamily.
Languagesarenotatalluniformlydistributedaroundtheworld.Justassomeplacesaremorediversethanothersintermsofplantandanimalspecies,thesamegoesforthedistributionoflanguages.OutofEthnologue’s6,809,forinstance,only230arespokeninEurope,while2,197arespokeninAsia.OneareaofparticularlyhighlinguisticdiversityisPapua-NewGuinea,wherethereareanestimated832languagesspokenbyapopulationofaround3.9million.Thatmakestheaveragenumberofspeakersaround4,500,possiblythelowestofanyareaoftheworld.Theselanguagesbelongtobetween40and50distinctfamilies.Ofcourse,thenumberoffamiliesmaychangeasscholarshipimproves,butthereislittlereasontobelievethatthesefiguresareradicallyoffthemark.
Wedonotfindlinguisticdiversityonlyinoutofthewayplaces.CenturiesofFrenchgovernmentshavestriventomakethatcountrylinguisticallyuniform,but(evendisregardingBreton,aCelticlanguage;Allemannisch,theGermaniclanguagespokeninAlsace;andBasque),EthnologueshowsatleasttendistinctRomancelanguagesspokeninFrance,includingPicard,Gascon,Provençal,andseveralothersinadditionto“French.”
MultilingualisminNorthAmericaisusuallydiscussed(apartfromthestatusofFrenchinCanada)intermsofEnglishvs.Spanish,orthelanguagesofimmigrantpopulationssuchasCantoneseorKhmer,butweshouldrememberthattheAmericaswerearegionwithmanylanguageswellbeforemodernEuropeansorAsiansarrived.Inpre-contacttimes,over300languageswerespokeninNorthAmerica.Ofthese,abouthalfhavediedoutcompletely.Allweknowofthemcomesfromearlywordlistsorlimitedgrammaticalandtextualrecords.Butthatstillleavesabout165ofNorthAmerica’sindigenouslanguagesspokenatleasttosomeextenttoday.
Oncewegobeyondthemajorlanguagesofeconomicandpoliticalpower,suchasEnglish,MandarinChinese,Spanish,andafewmorewithmillionsofspeakerseach,everywherewelookintheworldwefindavastnumberofothers,belongingtomanygeneticallydistinctfamilies.Butwhateverthedegreeofthatdiversity(andwediscussbelowtheproblemofhowtoquantifyit),onethingthatisfairlycertainisthatasurprisingproportionoftheworld’slanguagesareinfactdisappearing—evenaswespeak.
Fewerthantherewerelastmonth.
Whatevertheworld’slinguisticdiversityatthepresent,itissteadilydeclining,aslocalformsofspeechincreasinglybecomemoribundbeforetheadvanceofthemajorlanguagesofworldcivilization.Whenalanguageceasestobelearnedbyyoungchildren,itsdaysareclearlynumbered,andwecanpredictwithnearcertaintythatitwillnotsurvivethedeathofthecurrentnativespeakers.
ThesituationinNorthAmericaistypical.Ofabout165indigenouslanguages,onlyeightarespokenbyasmanyas10,000people.About75arespokenonlybyahandfulofolderpeople,andcanbeassumedtobeontheirwaytoextinction.WhilewemightthinkthisisanunusualfactaboutNorthAmerica,duetotheoverwhelmingpressureofEuropeansettlementoverthepast500years,itisactuallyclosetothenorm.Aroundaquarteroftheworld’slanguageshavefewerthanathousandremainingspeakers,andlinguistsgenerallyagreeinestimatingthattheextinctionwithinthenextcenturyofatleast3,000ofthe6,809languageslistedbyEthnologue,ornearlyhalf,isvirtuallyguaranteedunderpresentcircumstances.Thethreatofextinctionthusaffectsavastlygreaterproportionoftheworld’slanguagesthanitsbiologicalspecies.
Somewouldsaythatthedeathofalanguageismuchlessworrisomethanthatofaspecies.Afterall,aretherenotinstancesoflanguagesthatdiedandwerereborn,likeHebrew?
Andinanycase,whenagroupabandonsitsnativelanguage,itisgenerallyforanotherthatismoreeconomicallyadvantageoustothem:
whyshouldwequestionthewisdomofthatchoice?
ButthecaseofHebrewisquitemisleading,sincethelanguagewasnotinfactabandonedoverthemanyyearswhenitwasnolongertheprincipallanguageoftheJewishpeople.Duringthistime,itremainedanobjectofintensestudyandanalysisbyscholars.Andtherearefewifanycomparablecasestosupportthenotionthatlanguagedeathisreversible.
Theeconomicargumentdoesnotreallysupplyareasonforspeakersofa“small”andperhapsunwrittenlanguagetoabandonthatlanguagesimplybecausetheyalsoneedtolearnawidelyusedlanguagesuchasEnglishorMandarinChinese.Wherethereisnoonedominantlocallanguage,andgroupswithdiverselinguisticheritagescomeintoregularcontactwithoneanother,multilingualismisaperfectlynaturalcondition.Whenalanguagedies,aworlddieswithit,inthesensethatacommunity’sconnectionwithitspast,itstraditionsanditsbaseofspecificknowledgearealltypicallylostasthevehiclelinkingpeopletothatknowledgeisabandoned.Thisisnotanecessarystep,however,forthemtobecomeparticipantsinalargereconomicorpoliticalorder.
Forfurtherinformationabouttheissuesinvolvedinlanguageendangerment,seetheLSA’sFAQ“Whatisanendangeredlanguage?
”
Counttheflags!
Tothispoint,wehaveassumedthatweknowhowtocounttheworld’slanguages.Itmightseemthatanyremainingimprecisionissimilartowhatwemightfindinanyothercensus-likeoperation:
perhapssomeofthelanguageswerenothomewhentheEthnologuecountercamecalling,orperhapssomeofthemhavesimilarnamesthatmakeithardtoknowwhenwearedealingwithonelanguageandwhenwithseveral;buttheseareproblemsthatcouldbesolvedinprinciple,andthefuzzinessofournumbersshouldthusbequitesmall.Butinfact,whatmakeslanguagesdistinctfromoneanotherturnsouttobemuchmoreasocialandpoliticalissuethanalinguisticone,andmostofthecitednumbersaremattersofopinionratherthanscience.ThelateMaxWeinreichusedtosaythat“Alanguageisadialectwithanarmyandanavy.”HewastalkingaboutthestatusofYiddish,longconsidereda“dialect”becauseitwasnotidentifiedwithanypoliticallysignificantentity.ThedistinctionisstilloftenimplicitintalkaboutEuropean“languages”vs.African“dialects.”Whatcountsasalanguageratherthana“mere”dialecttypicallyinvolvesissuesofstatehood,economics,literarytraditionsandwritingsystems,andothertrappingsofpower,authorityandculture—withpurelylinguisticconsiderationsplayingalesssignificantrole.
Forinstance,Chinese“dialects”suchasCantonese,Hakka,Shanghainese,etc.arejustasdifferentfromoneanother(andfromthedominantMandarin)asRomancelanguagessuchasFrench,Spanish,ItalianandRomanian.Theyarenotmutuallyintelligible,buttheirstatusderivesfromtheirassociationwithasinglenationandasharedwritingsystem,aswellasfromexplicitgovernmentp
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