Re: VMs: [OT] Known languages

[Koontz John E <John.Koontz@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004, ajb wrote:
> Would any of the experts subscribing to this list be kind enough to
> offer as opinion for a rough estimate as to how many known languages
> there are or were in this world? That is, languages current and extinct
> that may reasonably be considered as separate and individually
> recognisable systems of communication?

Two places to look are SIL's Ethnologue (online) and the older published
work of Voegelin & Voegelin. I've never consulted these in terms of
numbers, but they attempt to be complete catalogs.  There are some similar
things for particular regions, continents, etc.  The question of whether
two forms are distinct is always a thorny one, with more political (and
statistical) ramifications than linguistic ones.

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