Researching languages by the numbers (fwd)

[Phil Cash Cash]

Researching languages by the numbers

July 14, 2003
http://www.sunspot.net/news/health/bal-te.language14bjul14,0,7951852.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

How many languages are there? For the latest count, scholars often point
to the Ethnologue (www.ethnologue.com), published by Texas-based SIL
International.

Formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics, SIL has been
updating the Ethnologue every four years since 1951 with help from 50
researchers worldwide in an effort to translate the Bible into as many
of the world's languages as possible, said editor Ray Gordon.

The most recent edition, published in 2000, estimates the number of
tongues at 6,809, compared with 6,703 four years earlier and 6,528 in
1992.

But that doesn't mean the number of languages is increasing - quite the
opposite. The increase is the result of studies that have reclassified
dialects of the same language as separate languages.

"The numbers are actually the result of better research," said Ted
Bergman, language assessment coordinator for SIL. "Languages are dying
off, there's no question."

Generally, languages differ from dialects because they develop over
longer periods, are used in distinct political and social communities
and are generally so different from one another that outsiders find
them difficult to understand.

Although many languages are expected to die in the years ahead, Bergman
said there's no way to know whether the number of languages will fall
when the 15th edition comes out next year.