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Level of Endangerment 5 Critically Endangered 4 Severely Endangered 3 Endangered 2 Threatened 1 Vulnerable 0 Safe1
Intergenerational Transmission Few speakers, all elderly Many of the grandparent generation speaks the language. Some of child- bearing age know the language, but do not speak it to children. Most adults of child-bearing age speak the language. Most adults and some children are speakers. All community members /members of the ethnic group speak the language.
Absolute Number of Speakers 1-9 speakers 10-99 speakers 100-999 speakers 1000-9999 speakers 10,000-99,999 speakers >100,000 speakers
Speaker Number Trends A small percentage of community members or members of the ethnic group speaks the language;, the rate of language shift is very high. Fewer than half of community members or members of the ethnic group speak the language; the rate of language shift is accelerated. About half of community members or members of the ethnic group speak the language; the rate of language shift, is frequent but not rapidly accelerating. A majority of community members or members of the ethnic group speak the language; the numbers of speakers is gradually diminishing. Most community members or members of the ethnic group are speakers; speaker numbers are diminishing, but at a slow rate. Almost all community members or members of the ethnic group speak the language; speaker numbers are stable or increasing.
Domains of use of the language Used only in very few domains, (for example, restricted to ceremonies, to few specific domestic activities; a majority of speakers supports language shift; no institutional support. The language is being replaced even in the home; some speakers may values their language while the majority support language shift; very limited institutional support, if any. Used mainly just in the home; some speakers may value their language but many are indifferent or support language shift; no literacy or education programs exist for the language; Government encourages shift to the majority language; there is little few outside institutional support. Used in non- official domains; shares usage in social domains with other languages; most value their language but some are indifferent; education and literacy programs are rarely embraced by the community; government has no explicit policy regarding minority languages, though some outside institutions support the languages. Used in all domains except official ones (i.e., government and workplace); nearly all speakers value their language and are positive about using it (prestigious); education and literacy in the language is available, but only valued by some; government and other institutional support for use in non-official domains. Used in government, mass media, education and the workplace; most speakers value their language and are enthusiastic about promoting it; education and literacy in the language are valued by most community members; government and other institutions support the language for use in all domains.
[Source: http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/assets/information_catalogue_endangered_languages.pdf]