Final answer:
Up to half of the world's 7,000 languages are expected to go extinct by the 21st century's end, largely due to globalization and the dominance of widespread languages. Indigenous languages are particularly vulnerable, with the UN citing 2,680 at risk. Efforts in language revitalization strive to preserve and revive these critical elements of cultural identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Experts from LibreTexts™ anticipate that due to globalization, up to half of the world's current languages might become extinct by the end of the 21st century. Many indigenous languages have already suffered significant decline, with Australia seeing a drastic reduction from 300 to approximately 70 aboriginal languages in just a few centuries. As large populations interact more and the world becomes more interconnected, smaller language groups are often abandoned in favor of more widely spoken languages, leading to their disuse and eventual extinction.
In today's world, there are around 7,000 languages, but the majority are spoken by small communities and are at risk of vanishing. The United Nations reports that 2,680 indigenous languages are at risk. When a language no longer has living speakers, it is considered dead. However, preservation efforts like language revitalization give hope for endangered languages to survive the threats of homogenization.