A student researching language preservation has taken notes:
• About 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide • Roughly half may disappear by century's end • Language carries cultural knowledge and worldview • Recording and teaching can help preserve languages • Younger generations often shift to dominant languages
The student wants to explain what is lost when languages die.
About 7,000 languages are currently spoken around the world.
When languages die, unique cultural knowledge and entire worldviews are lost—each language encodes its speakers' understanding of the world.
Roughly half of today's languages may disappear by the end of this century.
Recording and teaching endangered languages can help preserve them.
Correct Answer: B
Choice B. Cultural knowledge and worldviews explain what is lost.