Endangered Languages
Some Argentine languages are critically endangered, spoken only by a handful of isolated elderly people whose children don't speak the language; they are likely to become dead languages once the remaining speakers die. Vilela has about 20 speakers; Puelche has 5 or 6 speakers; Tehuelche has 4 speakers as of the year 2000, out of about 200 ethnic Tehuelche people, (2000 W. Adelaar); and Selknam (also known as Ona) has 1 to 3 speakers (1991) and is nearly extinct; full blooded Ona people are already extinct.
Read more about this topic: Languages Of Argentina
Famous quotes containing the words endangered and/or languages:
“Government ... thought [it] could transform the country through massive national programs, but often the programs did not work. Too often they only made things worse. In our rush to accomplish great deeds quickly, we trampled on sound principles of restraint and endangered the rights of individuals.”
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“It is time for dead languages to be quiet.”
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)