(1) Sprachstatus gemäß UNESCO
| safe | language is spoken by all generations; intergenerational transmission is uninterrupted >> not included in the Atlas | |
| ◊ | vulnerable | most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g., home) |
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| ♦ | definitely endangered | children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home |
| romance items: | ||
| ♦ | severely endangered | language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves |
| romance items: | ||
| ♦ | critically endangered | the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently |
| romance items: | ||
| ♦ | extinct | there are no speakers left >> included in the Atlas if presumably extinct since the 1950s |
| romance items: |
(2) Sprachstatus gemäß Ethnologue
Table 1 . Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Sc
| 0 | International | The language is widely used between nations in trade, knowledge exchange, and international policy. |
| 1 | National | The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government at the national level. |
| 2 | Provincial | The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government within major administrative subdivisions of a nation. |
| 3 | Wider Communication | The language is used in work and mass media without official status to transcend language differences across a region. |
| 4 | Educational | The language is in vigorous use, with standardization and literature being sustained through a widespread system of institutionally supported education. |
| 5 | Developing | The language is in vigorous use, with literature in a standardized form being used by some though this is not yet widespread or sustainable. |
| 6a | Vigorous | The language is used for face-to-face communication by all generations and the situation is sustainable. |
| 6b | Threatened | The language is used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users. |
| 7 | Shifting | The child-bearing generation can use the language among themselves, but it is not being transmitted to children. |
| 8a | Moribund | The only remaining active users of the language are members of the grandparent generation and older. |
| 8b | Nearly Extinct | The only remaining users of the language are members of the grandparent generation or older who have little opportunity to use the language. |
| 9 | Dormant | The language serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community, but no one has more than symbolic proficiency. |
| 10 | Extinct | The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language. |
Table 2 . Alternative labels for other special situations
| Level | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Dispersed | The language is fully developed in its home country, so that the community of language users in a different country has access to a standardized form and literature, but these are not promoted in the country in focus via institutionally supported education. |
| 9 | Reawakening | The ethnic community associated with a dormant language is working to establish more uses and more users for the language with the results that new L2 speakers are emerging. |
| 9 | Second language only | The language was originally vehicular, but it is not the heritage language of an ethnic community and it no longer has enough users to have significant vehicular function. |
Table 3 . Official recognition categories and definitions
|
Function |
Definition |
Example |
|
Statutory national language |
This is the language in which the business of the national government is conducted and this is mandated by law. It is also the language of national identity for the citizens of the country. |
Bengali [ben] in Bangladesh |
|
Statutory national working language |
This is a language in which the business of the national government is conducted and this is mandated by law. However it is not the language of national identity for the citizens of the country. |
English [eng] in Uganda |
|
Statutory language of national identity |
This is the language of national identity and this is mandated by law. However, it is not developed enough to function as the language of government business. |
Kituba [mkw] in Congo |
|
De facto national language |
This is the language in which the business of the national government is conducted but this is not mandated by law. It is also the language of national identity for the citizens of the country. |
Standard German [deu]in Germany |
|
De facto national working language |
This is a language in which the business of the national government is conducted, but this is not mandated by law. Neither is it the language of national identity for the citizens of the country. |
Brunei [kxd] in Brunei |
|
De facto language of national identity |
This is the language of national identity but this is not mandated by law. Neither is it developed enough or known enough to function as the language of government business. |
Ganda [lug] in Uganda |
|
Statutory provincial language |
This is the language in which the business of provincial government is conducted and this is mandated by law. It is also the language of identity for the citizens of the province. |
Hawaiian [haw] in the United States |
|
Statutory provincial working language |
This is a language in which the business of the provincial government is conducted and this is mandated by law. However, it is not the language of identity for the citizens of the province. |
Afar [aar] in Ethiopia |
|
Statutory language of provincial identity |
This is the language of identity for the citizens of the province and this is mandated by law. However, it is not developed enough or known enough to function as the language of government business. |
Maithili [mai] in India |
|
De facto provincial language |
This is the language in which the business of the provincial government is conducted, but this is not mandated by law. It is also the language of identity for the citizens of the province. |
Yue Chinese [yue] in China |
|
De facto provincial working language |
This is a language in which the business of provincial government is conducted, but this is not mandated by law. Neither is it the language of identity for the citizens of the province. |
|
|
De facto language of provincial identity |
This is the language of identity for citizens of the province, but this is not mandated by law. Neither is it developed enough or known enough to function as the language of government business. |
Adamawa Fulfulde [fub]in Nigeria |
|
Recognized language |
There is a law that names this language and recognizes its right to be used and developed for some purposes. |
New Zealand Sign Language [nzs] in New Zealand |
|
Provincially recognized language |
There is a law at the provincial level that names this language and recognizes its right to be used and developed for some purposes. |
Plains Indian Sign Language [psd] in Canada |
|
Language of recognized nationality |
There is a law that names the ethnic group that uses this language and recognizes their right to use and develop their identity. |