By the end of the century, more than 40% of the world's estimated 7000 thousand languages are in danger of disappearing. Those include indigenous languages in the Amazon. The United Nations estimates that an Indigenous language dies every two weeks.
So, how does a community reverse course?
Today, we focus on two endangered languages spoken in the Vaupés region of in Northwest Amazonia: Desano and Siriano.
Wilson de Lima Silva is a linguist at the University of Arizona, who's been working with the community for a decade in an effort to document these languages before they vanish and to support revitalization efforts for the next generation.
Check out the book Global Language Justice, co-edited by Professor Lydia Liu.
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This episode was produced by Jessica Yung. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer.
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