Only 4 Percent of World Languages Are Used Online

There are an estimated 7 thousand different languages spoken around the world, but according to a new research paper entitled Digital Language Death, András Kornai claims that only 4 percent of the world's languages are used in digital or online communication.

There are an estimated 7 thousand different languages spoken around the world, but according to a new research paper entitled Digital Language Death, András Kornai claims that only 4 percent of the world's languages are used in digital or online communication.

Research was gathered by analyzing public online text, wikipedia entries, and software support for each language.

Then they organized that data into five groups indicating the level of use online from thriving to still, which means it is not used at all online or on digital devices.

Only 170, or about 2 percent, of the languages in the world are thriving online, while 140, or just under 2 percent are classified as borderline digital languages, which are used online, but not primarily.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as UNESCO keeps an ongoing record of endangered languages, and Kornai used similar metrics in his research.

25 hundred out of the estimated 7 thousand world languages are on the verge of becoming extinct according to linguistic experts.

The number of people who still use dying languages is in decline as younger generations don't see the importance of speaking a language that so few people can understand.