can everyone tell me some of the dead languages in the world?

Answer 1

Latin is the most common. Aramic is also dead. Hebrew was almost a dead language but it is ok now.

Answer 2

There are many of them. Latin and Ancient Greek are some of the more obvious ones although a few linguists would argue that they still survive in the forms of French, Spanish , Portuguese, Italian and Modern Greek.

Some languages which have definitely become dead in the last three hundred years are Polabian (c. 1750) a Slavic language (with many Germanic influences) spoken in north-central Germany, Cornish (1777), a Celtic language spoken in Southwest England, Dalmatian (1898) a Romance language with some Spanish-like characteristics spoken along the coast of Yugoslavia (or Croatia), Huron (1950's) an Iroquoian Indian language (like Mohawk & Cherokee) spoken in eastern Canada and Oklahoma and Manx, a Celtic language similar to Irish and Scottish Gaelic spoken on the Isle of Man in northeastern England. Depending on whose accounts you go by, the last speaker of Manx died in either 1957, 1962 or 1965 (in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe where he was an immigrant).

In some languages like Greek, Basque, Irish and Cherokee, only certain dialects have died but not the entire language yet.

Answer 3

There is a difference between a 'dead' language, and an extinct language.

A dead language, such as Latin, may still actually be spoken and understood by many more people than speak some 'living' languages. Taking Latin as an example, it is technically 'dead', because almost no-one grows up learning it from infancy at home ( though there are a few households where it is spoken, these are very very rare exceptions). People generally learn Latin as young adults, so it is a 'dead' language. But it isn't extinct, not by any means. Poetry is still written in it, people still speak it, some thousands of people still know how to write in it, and many tens of thousands can read it fluently.

http://latinum.mypodcast.com

Another 'dead' language is Biblical (Official Babylonian)Aramaic - only ever learned by adults, who read the few texts that survive in it ( some of which are in the Bible). Similarly, Babylonian and Palestinian Aramic are not extinct, but dead - a great many people can read texts written in these languages with perfect fluency, but no-one speaks Babylonian or Palestinian Aramaic conversationally, nor have they for over 1000 years, much longer in the case of Official Aramaic. Some people can write tolerably good Babylonian Aramaic.
A language that is extinct, as opposed to 'dead' is Akkadian - only a tiny handful of university professors can read it. Same for Ugaritic, Eblaite, Nabatean, or Ancient Egyptian. Mediaeval French, for example, might be classed as extinct, as opposed to dead, although some people still read it in the original, no-one writes in it.

It is a subtle distinction in some cases, I suppose. A number of languages on earth are only spoken by a handful of people, often these are tribal languages with no written literature, and several of these languages supposedly become extinct every year.

Answer 4

Todd: Great opening question to draw in your readers. It is beyond me why some will just ask: "Will you read my poem" - which is fine, but if Yahoo allows the question, it at least here is part of your poetic piece, and that set the stage for and very good write on your part. My only problem with the use of couplets. Perhaps a couple to conclude, but too much spacing severed the flow to me, but not enough to dissuade me from saying this was still very good, same goes for word usage and imagery. The bottom line is we do not know what lies in waiting. I think I know for myself how it might go, but there is no way to know precisely. There is one constant: we all die. That is sort of sad. Hey, I read somewhere where the total number of people in the world today, what is it....5 billion, is more than the total estimate of people who have ever lived. Wonder if that can be true? Does not seem possible, as we lose over 300,000 life's / day in this world. Lethean: noun: (Greek mythology) a river in Hades; the souls of the dead had to drink from it, which made them forget all they had done and suffered when they were alive irremediable: adjective: impossible to remedy or correct or redress Congrats ______________________________________...

Answer 5

I think Latin is considered a "dead" language.

Answer 6

You can find a list of dead languages, and much more info here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_languages

Answer 7

Latin is the main one that I can think of right now.

Answer 8

latin, aramaic..