- The largest single language by population is Mandarin (845 million speakers) followed by Spanish (329 million speakers) and English (328 million speakers).
- 133 languages are spoken by fewer than 10 people
Source: Ethnologue 2009
When a language dies, the link to that culture is lost.
But languages can be brought back to life, for example Welsh and Hebrew were both struggling languages that have now become widely accepted.
In 2002 the UK government recognised Cornish as a living minority language.
Languages are living, evolving things that change to accommodate new technology, new fashions, new ideas.
But spare a thought for the ones that pass, often unremarked. A way of life has been lost and we are the poorer for it.