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February 05, 2007
International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO in November 1999, and observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. Today, about half of the 6,000 or so languages spoken in the world are under threat.
Over the past three centuries, languages have died out and disappeared at a steadily increasing pace, especially in the Americas and Australia. At least 3,000 tongues are endangered, seriously endangered or dying in many parts of the world. According to recent estimates, very few people speak most of the 6,000 known languages around the world. Half of today's languages have fewer than 10,000 speakers and a quarter have fewer than1,000.
Posted by Syamak Moattari at February 5, 2007 12:12 AM
