List of endangered languages in Central America
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. UNESCO defines four levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct":[1]
- Vulnerable
- Definitely endangered
- Severely endangered
- Critically endangered
Central America (Spanish: Centroamérica or América Central) is a central geographic region of the Americas. It is variably defined either as the southern portion of North America, which connects with South America on the southeast, or as a region of the American continent in its own right.[2][3]
|
Costa Rica
| Language |
Ethnonym |
Speakers |
Source |
| Boruca language | | 5 women (1986 SIL)30 to 35 nonfluent speakers 1,000 (1991). | |
|
|
El Salvador
| Language |
Ethnonym |
Speakers |
Source |
| Pipil language | | 20 (1987) 196,576 (1987) | |
|
|
Guatemala
| Language |
Ethnonym |
Speakers |
Source |
| Itza' language | | 12 (1986 SIL) 1,800 (2001). | |
|
|
Honduras
| Language |
Ethnonym |
Speakers |
Source |
| Lenca language | | Only a few speakers in Honduras | |
|
|
Nicaragua
| Language |
Ethnonym |
Speakers |
Source |
| Rama language | | 24 (1989 J Holm) 900 (2000 C Grinevald). | |
|
References
- ↑ Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. Memory of Peoples (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
- ↑ Central America, MSN Encarta. Accessed on line January 10, 2008. Archived 2009-10-31.
- ↑ "Central America", vol. 3, Micropædia, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1990, 15th ed. ISBN 0-85229-511-1.