Chapter 5, Section 7
Isolated, Endangered, and Extinct Languages.
Isolated Languages
An isolated language is a language unrelated to any other and therefore not attached to any language family. An example of an isolated language is Basque, spoken by 660,00 people in the Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque is the only language spoken in Europe that survives from before the arrival of Indo-European speakers.
Extinct Languages
Extinct languages that were once in use, are no longer spoken or read in daily activities by anyone in the world. An example of an extinct language is Aka-Bo, part of the Adamanese family, became extinct when the last speaker died in 2010. Another language that went extinct is Hebrew but it was revived for religious purposes in recent time.
Preserving Endangered Languages
One way that endangered languages are preserved are through the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL). Most often languages are preserved based on the political and military strength of their speakers.
The basque alphabet
The written alphabet of the isolated language, Basque.
Location of Basue Speakers
Basque is isolated to the perensian mountains, near the border of Spain.
Basque citizens
All these people belong to the isolated language basque and this is also the traditional flag of basque.
Saving endangered languages through music: Susanna Zaraysky at TEDxSantaCruz
Preserving endangered languages: Barry Mosses at TEDxCCS