Over 6,000 languages are currently spoken worldwide, but a substantial minority — well over 5% — are in danger of dying out. It is perhaps surprising that this fraction is no higher, as most models have so far predicted that a minority language will be doomed to extinction once contacts with speakers of the majority language reach a certain level. Statistical physicists Jean-Marc Luck from Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France and Anita Mehta from the University of Oxford, UK have described, using mathematical modelling, two mechanisms through which this doomsday scenario does not occur, i.e. several languages come to coexist in the same area. This work is now published in EPJ B. (1)
Languages being born.
Languages getting extinct.
Languages dying. Spoken by very few.
These few will soon seize to be.
And their logos will be drifted away by the winds of existence.
Does that matter to anyone?
Will the universe cry?
Listen.
There is nothing to listen.