Decline in the World’s Languages

Living on Earth

Although there are thousands of languages spoken today, lingua-diversity is in steep decline. More than half the world’s languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. And more than a quarter are spoken by fewer than 1000 people. Guest host Laura Knoy talks with Peter Ladefoged (laud-eh-FOE-ged), a linguist at the University of California at Los Angeles who travels the world, studying and recording these rare languages.

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