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December 2010: new Endangered Languages Database, University of Cambridge, United-Kingdom.
Researchers at the World Oral Literature Project (WOLP), University of Cambridge, have compiled a new database of language endangerment levels.
Data on language endangerment are drawn from three sources: the Summer Institute of Linguistics ‘ (SIL)ethnologue.com website, the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger and the work of conservation biologist Professor William Sutherland in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge.
The latter, together with researcher Heidi Eager, has applied a set of internationally agreed criteria for classifying species extinction risk to languages. Their published research has shown that languages are more threatened than birds or mammals.
Hot links to the Linguist List Map and to the Open Language Archives Community (OLAC) are also included for each language, both websites being clearly intended for scientists rather than the general public.
Only languages classified as endangered by one or more of these datasets have been included in the database. It cannot therefore be considered as complete, and indeed we have noted that several languages on which Sorosoro has focused are not listed. Starting with the language on which we are posting videos these days, the Tektiteko language of Guatemala, despite its mere 3000 speakers…