Experts Try to Save Dying Languages: ; Some Believe 2,500 Native Tongues Will Be Gone by Next Century

Summary

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WASHINGTON - Every two weeks or so the last elderly man or woman with full command of a particular language dies. At that rate, as many as 2,500 native tongues will disappear forever by 2100.

David Lightfoot is helping spearhead a government initiative to preserve some of these dying languages, believing each is a window into the human mind that can benefit the world at large.

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Experts Try to Save Dying Languages: ; Some Believe 2,500 Native Tongues Will Be Gone by Next Century

"If we are going to lose half the world's languages, that endangers our capacity to understand the genetic basis of language," said Lightfoot, who heads the directorate of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at the Na...

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