当今世界上使用的大多数语言都不是静态的，这意味着它们会随着时代的变化而变化，可能会吸收新词，并从其他语言中窃取词汇。当把语言作为主要交流手段的人口仍然存在时，语言就会生机勃勃，欣欣向荣。当没有母语人口时，这种语言通常被称为死亡或灭绝的语言。即使只剩下少数人会说一种语言，但大多数年轻人不再会说一种语言，这种语言也可以被称为灭绝或濒临灭绝。。

绝种语言的标签并不意味着没有人会说这种语言。拉丁语和科普特语等几种语言用于仪式目的，人们在学校仍然可以学习这些语言。通常，除了学习拉丁语的学生外，没有人会花太多时间只用拉丁语进行交流。这真的很像教给许多拉丁学生的那首古诗：

Latin is a language As dead as dead can be. First it killed the Romans And now it’s killing me.

There are many situations that can create an extinct language. In the case of Latin, it quickly morphed into the many Romance languages spoken today. English derives from its own extinct language, Anglo-Saxon, and from an infusion of French words. Sometimes a language can change so much and so quickly, that even though you can see commonalities between the extinct and the new language, it’s mainly unrecognizable.

Language extinction may also occur if a natural disaster or genocide destroys a whole population of speakers. Alternately, people may live in areas where two languages are spoken. Gradually one becomes the language of choice while the other dies off. Additionally, an extinct language may occur when people are forced to give up their native language, as is the case with many Native American languages. When tribes were forcibly relocated or where English programs became mandated for Native American children, several important languages were completely killed off.

When a language is dying or endangered, or even sometimes when it is an extinct language, efforts can be made to revive it. The most successful rescue of a near extinct language is that made by the state of Israel to purposefully create Hebrew as a national language. Sometimes language revival comes from outside the speaking population. The use of Navajo Code Talkers during World War II effectively revived Navajo, thought its speaking population remains small.

If you’re looking at extinct language lists, you’ll find numerous ones on the Internet. The numbers are staggering. As mentioned above, some of these extinctions result from rapid change of the language to a now different form like modern English, Irish (or Gaelic as it is sometimes referred to), German or French. Others died because other languages were either used by choice, or through force, and in rare cases because of natural disaster or genocide.