| Language Endangerment Status by UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger category | |
|---|---|
| Extinct (EX) | |
| |
| Endangered | |
| Safe | |
| |
Other categories | |
Related topics | |
 UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger categories | |
An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. A language may be endangered in one area but show signs of revitalisation in another, as with the Irish language.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines five levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct":
- Vulnerable – "most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g. home)"
- Definitely endangered – "children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home"
- Severely endangered – "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"
- Critically endangered – "the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently"
- Extinct – "there are no speakers left; included in the Atlas if presumably extinct since the 1950s"
The list below includes the findings from the third edition of Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010; formerly the Red Book of Endangered Languages), as well as the online edition of the aforementioned publication, both published by UNESCO.
| Language | Status | Nations | ISO 639-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abaza language | Definitely endangered | Russia, Turkey | abq |
| Abkhaz language | Vulnerable | Georgia, Russia, Turkey | abk |
| Adyghe language (West Circassian) | Definitely endangered | Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Macedonia, Russia, Syria, Turkey | ady |
| Agul language | Definitely endangered | Russia | agx |
| Akhvakh language | Definitely endangered | Russia | akv |
| Alabugat Tatar language | Definitely endangered | Russia | |
| Aleut language (Western, Commander Islands) | Critically endangered | Russia | ale |
| Alutor language | Severely endangered | Russia | alu |
| Andi language | Definitely endangered | Russia | ani |
| Archi language | Definitely endangered | Russia | aqc |
| Avar language | Vulnerable | Russia | ava |
| Bagvalal language | Definitely endangered | Russia | kva |
| Baraba Tatar language | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Bashkir language | Vulnerable | Russia | bak |
| Belarusian language | Vulnerable | Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine | bel |
| Bezhta language | Definitely endangered | Russia | kap |
| Bohtan Neo-Aramaic language | Severely endangered | Georgia, Russia | bhn |
| Botlikh language | Definitely endangered | Russia | bph |
| Buryat language | Severely endangered | Russia | bua |
| Central Selkup language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Central Siberian Yupik language | Severely endangered | Russia | ess |
| Chamalal language | Definitely endangered | Russia | cji |
| Chechen language | Vulnerable | Russia | che |
| Chelkan language | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Chukchi language | Severely endangered | Russia | ckt |
| Chulym language | Critically endangered | Russia | clw |
| Chuvash language | Vulnerable | Russia | chv |
| Dargwa language | Vulnerable | Russia | dar |
| Dolgan language | Definitely endangered | Russia | dlg |
| Eastern Khanty language | Definitely endangered | Russia | |
| Eastern Mansi language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Eastern Mari language | Definitely endangered | Russia | |
| Erzya language | Definitely endangered | Russia | myv |
| Even language | Severely endangered | Russia | eve |
| Evenki language | Severely endangered | China, Russia | evn |
| Forest Enets language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Forest Nenets language | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Forest Yukagir language | Critically endangered | Russia | yux |
| Godoberi language | Definitely endangered | Russia | gdo |
| Hinukh language | Definitely endangered | Russia | gin |
| Homshetsi dialect | Severely endangered | Georgia, Russia | |
| Hunzib language | Definitely endangered | Russia | huz |
| Ingrian language | Severely endangered | Russia | izh |
| Ingush language | Vulnerable | Russia | inh |
| Itelmen language | Critically endangered | Russia | itl |
| Judeo-Tat | Definitely endangered | Azerbaijan, Israel, Russia | jdt |
| Kabardian | Vulnerable | Russia, Turkey | kbd |
| Kalmyk language | Definitely endangered | Russia | xal |
| Karachay-Balkar language | Vulnerable | Russia | krc |
| Karata language | Definitely endangered | Russia | kpt |
| Karelian language | Definitely endangered | Finland, Russia | krl |
| Ket language | Severely endangered | Russia | ket |
| Khakas language | Definitely endangered | Russia | kjh |
| Khamnigan Mongol language | Definitely endangered | China, Mongolia, Russia | ykh |
| Khwarshi language | Definitely endangered | Russia | khv |
| Kildin Saami language | Severely endangered | Russia | sjd |
| Kilen language | Critically endangered | China, Russia | |
| Kili language | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Komi language | Definitely endangered | Russia | kpv |
| Koryak language | Severely endangered | Russia | kpy |
| Kumandin language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Kumyk language | Vulnerable | Russia | kum |
| Lak language | Vulnerable | Russia | lbe |
| Latgalian language | Vulnerable | Latvia, Russia | ltg |
| Lezgian language | Vulnerable | Azerbaijan, Russia | lez |
| Low Saxon language | Vulnerable | Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Russia | nds |
| Ludic language | Severely endangered | Russia | lud |
| Moksha language | Definitely endangered | Russia | mdf |
| Nanai language | Severely endangered | China, Russia | gld |
| Naukan Yupik language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Negidal language | Critically endangered | Russia | neg |
| Nganasan language | Severely endangered | Russia | nio |
| Nivkh language | Severely endangered | Russia | niv |
| Nogai language | Definitely endangered | Russia | nog |
| Northern Sámi | Definitely endangered | Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden | sme |
| Northern Altai language | Severely endangered | Russia | atv |
| Northern Khanty language | Definitely endangered | Russia | |
| Northern Mansi language | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Northern Selkup language | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Olonetsian language | Definitely endangered | Finland, Russia | olo |
| Oroch language | Critically endangered | Russia | oac |
| Orok language | Critically endangered | Russia | oaa |
| Ossetian language | Vulnerable | Georgia, Russia | oss |
| Pontic Greek language | Definitely endangered | Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine | pnt |
| Romani language | Definitely endangered | Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom | rom |
| Rutul language | Definitely endangered | Azerbaijan, Russia | rut |
| Seto dialect | Definitely endangered | Estonia, Russia | |
| Shor language | Severely endangered | Russia | cjs |
| Siberian Tatar language | Definitely endangered | Russia | sty |
| Skolt Saami language | Severely endangered | Finland, Norway, Russia | sms |
| Southern Altai language | Definitely endangered | Russia | alt |
| Southern Selkup language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Soyot language | Extinct, partly revitalized | Russia | |
| Tabasaran language | Vulnerable | Russia | tab |
| Taz dialect | Severely endangered | Russia | |
| Teleut language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Ter Saami language | Critically endangered | Russia | sjt |
| Tindi language | Definitely endangered | Russia | tin |
| Tofa language | Critically endangered | Russia | kim |
| Trukhmen language | Definitely endangered | Russia, Turkmenistan | |
| Tsakhur language | Definitely endangered | Azerbaijan, Russia | tkr |
| Tsez language | Definitely endangered | Russia | ddo |
| Tundra Enets language | Critically endangered | Russia | |
| Tundra Nenets language | Definitely endangered | Russia | |
| Tundra Yukagir language | Critically endangered | Russia | ykg |
| Tuvan language | Vulnerable | China, Mongolia, Russia | tyv |
| Udege language | Critically endangered | Russia | ude |
| Udmurt language | Definitely endangered | Russia | udm |
| Ulch language | Critically endangered | Russia | ulc |
| Urum language | Definitely endangered | Georgia, Russia, Ukraine | uum |
| Veps language | Severely endangered | Russia | vep |
| Võro language | Definitely endangered | Estonia, Russia | |
| Votic language | Critically endangered | Russia | vot |
| Western Mari language | Severely endangered | Russia | mrj |
| Yakut language | Vulnerable | Russia | sah |
| Yiddish language (Europe) | Definitely endangered | Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom | ydd |
| Yurt Tatar language | Definitely endangered | Russia | nog |
See also
- List of endangered languages in Europe
- List of endangered languages in Asia
- List of endangered languages in Africa
References
- ^ Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Memory of Peoples (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
- For the online atlas version see here
- Tazranova, A.R. "The Chelkan Language". Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
- Bitkeeva, A.N. "The Kumandin Language". Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
- Rassadin, V.I. "The Soyot Language". Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
- Nevskaya, I.A. "The Teleut Language". Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-07-16.