Extinct language - Misplaced Pages

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An extinct language (also called a dead language) is a language which no longer has any native speakers. The reason may be that the language has evolved into one or more daughter languages, or because the language was replaced by a different language. Examples of the first type include Latin, which evolved into the Romance languages, and Sanskrit, which evolved into the modern Indo-Aryan languages. Examples of the second type include Coptic, which was replaced by Arabic, and many Native American languages, which were replaced by English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese.

In some cases, an extinct language remains in use for scientific, legal, or ecclesiastical functions. Long after evolving into more modern languages, the classical forms of Latin, and Sanskrit have been used for scientific neologisms. Old Church Slavonic, Avestan, Coptic, and Ge'ez are among the many extinct languages used as sacred languages.

A language that does have living native speakers is called a living language. Ethnologue claims there are 6,912 living languages known.

In at least one case, Hebrew, an extinct language has been revived to become a living language. Other cases such as Manx and Cornish are disputed, as it is not clear they will ever become the common native language of a community of speakers.

See also