Page 24 - Summer 2021

LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT
Table 1. Safe languages
EGIDS
Status
Descriptions of Language
EGIDS 0
International
Used internationally, i.e., English, French, Spanish.
EGIDS 1
National
Used in education, work, mass media, and government at a national level, i.e., Hindi, Swahili, Thai.
EGIDS 2
Provincial
Used in education, work, mass media, and government within major administrative subdivi- sions of a nation, i.e., Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, (Nigeria, West Africa).
EGIDS 3
Wider communication
Used at work and in mass media without official status to transcend differences across a region, i.e., Akan (Ghana), Lingala (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Luganda (Uganda), Ewe (Togo).
EGIDS 4
Educational
In vigorous use, with standardization and literature being sustained through a wide- spread system of institutionally supported education, i.e. Bambara (Mali), Wolof (Senegal), Olusamia (Kenya).
EGIDS 5
Developing
In vigorous use, with literature in a standardized form being used by some though this is not widespread or sustainable, i.e., Aja, Gun, Lokpa (Benin).
EGIDS 6a
Vigorous
Used for face-to-face communication by all generations and the situation is sustainable, i.e., Kabye, Moba (Togo), Dewoin (Liberia).
EGIDS, Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale.
Table 2. Endangered languages
EGIDS
Status
Descriptions of Language
EGIDS 6b
Threatened
Used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users, i.e., Aizi, Krumen (Côte d’Ivoire), ǃXóo᷈ (Botswana).
EGIDS 7
Shifting
Child-bearing generation can use the language among themselves, but it is not being transmit- ted to children, i.e., Frisian, Walser (Germany), Svan (Georgia).
EGIDS 8a
Moribund
Only remaining active users are members of the grandparent generation and older, i.e., Jeri Kuo, Beti, Mbre (Côte d’Ivoire).
EGIDS 8b
Nearly extinct
Only remaining users of the language are members of the grandparent generation or older who have little opportunity to use the language, i.e., Breton (France), Odut (Nigeria), Saami (Sweden).
EGIDS 9
Dormant
Serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community, but no one has more than symbolic proficiency, i.e., Saami (Norway), Cornish, Polari (United Kingdom).
EGIDS 10
Extinct
No longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identify, i.e., Maidu, Mahican, Iowa-Oto (United States).
Assessment of Gravity
Experts rely on specific metrics to assess the levels of linguistic vitality or endangerment. UNESCO (2010) uses seven indices to classify languages: (1) safe; (2) stable yet threatened; (3) vulnerable; (4) definitely endangered; (5) severely endangered; (6) critically endangered; and (7) extinct. Eberhard et al. (2019) use a 13-point “Expanded Graded Intergenerational
Disruption Scale” (EGIDS). This is the method of classification used in this article because it is more descriptive (Table 1).
Languages with EGIDS 0-3 have been referred to by some language advocates as “killer” languages because their spread has proven to be harmful to the languages in Table 2.
24 Acoustics Today • Summer 2021