Dying Languages

Did you know there are actually languages with only a handful of speakers left? Or, more correctly, two elderly men who don't even talk to each other? It must be depressing to watch your native language die, knowing full well that you might take it to the grave with you when you die. I can't even imagine having no one to talk to or write with in my native language, although I love English. It would feel weird, to say the least.

It must be even worse if the only other person still speaking your native language fluently doesn't talk to you -- for whatever reason. I mean, can you imagine never hearing your native language again? And if you talk to someone else who might just understand enough, you get a response in a different language.

This really makes me wonder how many languages die out every year. The article in the Guardian (see link above) was the first article of this kind I've read, although when I think about it, I'm pretty sure that languages die out constantly. The only difference: Normally, the broader public doesn't notice, yes, doesn't even know the language ever existed. There are so many languages which are almost completely unknown outside the area in which they are spoken (tribal languages in Africa, for example) that I'm actually wondering whether we will ever be able to tell exactly how many languages exist on earth.

What are the criteria for a language, anyway? When does a dialect become a language in its own right? Who has the right or power to decide? I mean, if you think about how close some languages are, like Spanish and Portuguese, and how strange and different some dialects sound even to native speakers.... An example from my own life: When I was younger, I was able to have a simple conversation with my best friend's mother, speaking Spanish while she spoke Portuguese. However, when I was on holiday in Bavaria, I tried to talk (or rather listen) to an elderly woman who spoke the Bavarian dialect. I wasn't able to tell what she was saying, although German is my native language and Bavarian supposed to be a German dialect.

Do you have your own experiences with cross-language conversations or dialects you didn't understand? Or do you know of a language which is endangered? Please share with us!