Does a language die every two weeks?
Researchers have catalogued 7,164 languages spoken around the world - some are used daily by billions. Half are spoken by less than 8000 people. The death of a language, when it\u2019s no longer spoken as a first language by anyone living is a deeply significant moment in the cultural life of communities.
Multiple sources including the UN and National Geographic magazine have claimed this happens every two weeks. But we have reasons to be suspicious about that statistic.\n \nGary Simons, executive editor of the Ethnologue language catalogue, explains where this idea came from.
Presenter: Kate Lamble\nProducer: Natasha Fernandes\nSeries producer: Tom Colls\nProduction co-ordinator: Brenda Brown\nSound mix: Nigel Appleton\nEditor: Richard Fenton-Smith