German is a language that is spoken by more than 130 million people worldwide, including native speakers, and as a second language. The German language, while changing, is not on its way to extinction any time soon. Languages that are close to death (called moribund languages) are those that are close to losing their last native speakers and are not being as widely used by the younger generations due to the other languages becoming the majority language in the area. German is not one of these languages.

If you were to go into a German shopping hall, you’ll find that many of the words in the advertisements are English. This was a point of concern in Germany because it was thought that the prevalence of English wouldn’t mean that young Germans would no longer be interested in learning German because so much of their world is in English. This is a concern for many languages, not just German, and will happen in places where English is considered to be more beneficial, with many countries in Europe facing similar issues.

Languages are living, constantly changing things.

Languages go extinct or become in danger of extinction when the number of native speakers declines. This may happen in times when a new language becomes more popular and has a bigger influence than the original language. An example of this is when children of minority groups begin to learn a different language (such as English) to what is natively spoken by them or their family. When this starts to happen in large numbers a language may become endangered.

One reason that German may appear to be less, less common than it used to is that other languages are becoming more popular to learn. This means there are fewer and fewer language classes available to learn German. Part of this reason is due to the dominance of other countries on the world stage, particularly economically. It makes sense that more people would prefer to learn a language of a powerful country, particularly if it relates to their career.

Germany holds a central position in Europe, so from this perspective, it will remain an important language.

Do Languages Change Over Time?

Even though German is not a dying language, this does not mean that it is not changing. All languages shift and change over time, including English – remember reading Shakesphere in school and having trouble understanding it? The same applies to all languages.

One way that this change is sped up, is through an unusually large increase in non-native speakers in the areas where German is natively spoken (eg: Germany). What this would do is cause the non-native speakers to adopt the German language but retain aspects of their own language, combining the two in a variant of German.

This may include using non-German words in everyday language, either to replace a German word or when there is no German word equivalent available.

Is It Ok To Learn A Dead Language?

If you are wanting to learn a language, don’t let the number of speakers, native or not, discourage you from learning the language. If you have the passion then go for it! This can include learning languages such as Latin, or made-up languages such Dothraki and Klingon. Obviously, these are not languages you are likely to need in day-to-day life but if it is a language you were passionate about learning then that is enough.

There is nothing wrong with learning a language just for fun, whether it is dead or not. Latin is the classic example of this as many people still learned Latin today. Part of the benefits of this particularly with Latin is the increased grammatical knowledge that comes from learning this language.

Is Anything Being Done For Dying Languages?

The world contains many thousands of languages many of which are endangered or extinct. There are groups of people who are working to preserve these languages. Many of these languages are spoken by indigenous populations and in some cases, these languages are able to be revived and are now thriving.

A good example of this is the way that New Zealand has helped to revive their native language of Maouri. The revival of this language was supported throughout the country and included Radio channels, television shows, and classes in school all in this language because it was such a high level of support the language is now thriving.