Vanishing tongues and success stories from around the world (fwd link)

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Vanishing tongues and success stories from around the world

Adam McDowell, National Post  Published: Friday, January 23, 2009
Canada

The task First Nations language activists have undertaken is nothing short of
defying a multi-century trend that has seen minority languages wither and
disappear in a competition against the languages of empires past and present.
English, Spanish, Russian and others can bully minority languages into oblivion
through social and economic pressure, assimilationist educational policies, the
effect of the mass media and other factors.

Of the world's 7,000 languages, linguists believe as many as half are in danger
of disappearing during the 21st century, and many of those will go silent
before ever being recorded for posterity.

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http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=1211450