Frequently asked questions

Both extinct languages and dormant languages no longer have any fully-proficient L1 users.  The Ethnologue makes a distinction between the two, however, to reflect the differences that exist in the sociolinguistic status of these languages without users. Although a dormant language is not used for daily life, there is an ethnic community that associates itself with a dormant language and view the language as a symbol of that community's identity.  Though a dormant language has no proficient users, it retains some social uses. In contrast, an extinct language is no longer claimed by any extant community as the language of their heritage identity. Extinct languages are lacking in both users and societal uses. Some extinct languages, such as Latin, may continue to be used as second-languages only for specific, restricted, often vehicular, functions, that are generally not related to ethnic identity.

Ethnologue itself won't help you learn a language. There are many resources available for the widely known languages that can be found by doing a simple web search. You can use the Other Resources link in each language entry to see what language documentation and literature might be available in the language. The OLAC list of resources may provide a starting point for finding resources for the less commonly known languages where fewer resources are likely to be widely available.

This is a result of the introduction of EGIDS in the 17th edition. The 188 languages that have been placed in the Dormant category (EGIDS 9) were counted as extinct in the previous edition, but are now being distinguished from Extinct (EGIDS 10) and counted as living. In many cases there are revitalization efforts underway to preserve and even revive these languages as part of the heritage of living ethnic communities.  While there may be no fully proficient speakers, these languages cannot be accurately identified as extinct. We believe this change aligns with the general consensus of language communities themselves and with the understanding of language preservation and documentation activists.

Since the 17th edition, the Ethnologue has deliberately moved away from the official/national distinction in the description of language status, on the grounds that such distinctions are often inconsistently applied from country to country and thus lead to considerable confusion. The categorizations that we now use focus on two facets of language status: the "health" of the language as more fully described by the EGIDS scale, and the function or functions of the language within that country.

For a more complete discussion of how we categorize Language Status, please see this page: http://www.ethnologue.com/about/language-status.

There are 141 language families

Papua New Guinea, with 840 living languages

Vanuatu, with 111 living languages and a geographic area of 12,189 square kilometers, has one language for every 110 square kilometers (42 square miles).  (Small political entities, like Vatican State and Monaco, are not included here)

In short, no. See our Terms of Use and contact our Permissions Administrator for information about uses of the Ethnologue that exceed those described there.