minority languages
Fading regional tongues
Minority languages are languages spoken by a smaller portion of a population within a region or country, often alongside a dominant official language.
Welsh in the United Kingdom and Navajo in the United States are minority languages.
The term typically implies these languages face pressure from more widely used ones and may require protection to survive: The EU has policies supporting minority languages.
At risk of extinction
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- threatenedExpressed intent to harm
- moribundNear death, failing
- dormantInactive but capable
extinct · disappearing · decline · loss · erosion · obsolescence · revitalization · revival
Restoring vigor or vitality
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- educationSystematic development of mind
- immersionState of being submerged
- literacyAbility to read, write
standardization · community engagement · activism · recognition · official status · bilingual education · curriculum · resources
Study of language variation
- bilingualismProficiency in two languages
- multilingualismMultiple language proficiency
- diglossiaCoexisting language varieties, distinct roles
- code-switchingAlternating between linguistic varieties
phonology · morphology · syntax · grammar · lexicon · orthography · writing system · script
Regional language variety
- vernacularEveryday regional speech
- creoleNativized pidgin tongue
- pidginImprovised contact language
- patoisRegional informal speech
sociolect · colloquial · non-standard · unwritten · oral
Of a clan
- nativeOriginating from a place
- aboriginalIndigenous to a place
- autochthonousOriginating where found
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
ancestral · ethnolinguistic · oral tradition · oral history · elders · ceremonies · customs · folklore
Inherited cultural legacy
- cultureCollective social practices
- ethnicityShared cultural heritage group
- belongingState of fitting in
- ancestryFamily line of descent
tradition · community · roots · authenticity · diversity · multiculturalism · pluralism · biculturalism
endangered
At risk of extinction
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- threatenedExpressed intent to harm
- moribundNear death, failing
dormant · extinct · disappearing · decline · loss · erosion · obsolescence · revitalization · revival · reclamation
revitalization
Restoring vigor or vitality
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- educationSystematic development of mind
- immersionState of being submerged
literacy · standardization · community engagement · activism · recognition · official status · bilingual education · curriculum · resources · funding
sociolinguistics
Study of language variation
- bilingualismProficiency in two languages
- multilingualismMultiple language proficiency
- diglossiaCoexisting language varieties, distinct roles
code-switching · phonology · morphology · syntax · grammar · lexicon · orthography · writing system · script · documentation
dialect
Regional language variety
- vernacularEveryday regional speech
- creoleNativized pidgin tongue
- pidginImprovised contact language
patois · sociolect · colloquial · non-standard · unwritten · oral
tribal
Of a clan
- nativeOriginating from a place
- aboriginalIndigenous to a place
- autochthonousOriginating where found
First Nations · ancestral · ethnolinguistic · oral tradition · oral history · elders · ceremonies · customs · folklore · mythology
heritage
Inherited cultural legacy
- cultureCollective social practices
- ethnicityShared cultural heritage group
- belongingState of fitting in
ancestry · tradition · community · roots · authenticity · diversity · multiculturalism · pluralism · biculturalism · mother tongue
- Cultural Policyarts funding, arts council, arts councils, heritage preservation, cultural institutions
- endangered languagesrevitalization, UNESCO
- multilingual communitiesbilingual children, code-switching, heritage speakers, ethnic enclaves, Chinatown
- Overlooked Thingsrare diseases, folk traditions, indigenous art, oral histories, local customs
- ethnic radioethnic music, community radio
- multilingual placesSwitzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Singapore, Canada
minority languagesworld languages
Systems of human communication globally
minority languagesofficial languages
State-designated modes of communication
minority languagesclassical languages
Languages of antiquity studied academically
language, minor, minority, languages, minorities, minority language