“Do people know that on average around 25 languages die every year? In one hundred years, if nothing has changed, half of all languages will be dead. At the end of the Twenty-first Century, there should therefore remain around 2,500, and probably many fewerif we take into account a very possible acceleration of the rate of disappearance. Granted, like civilizations, languages are mortal, and the chasm of history is big enough for them all. However, there is something completely unique, and exalting, about the death of languages, when we become aware of it: languages can be resurrected! But this requires vigilance, without which all are threatened, including French.” C. H.

Claude Hagège is a recipient of the CNRS Gold Medal, and professor at the Collège de France. He is the author of L’Enfant aux deux langues, Le Français et les siècles, both huge best-sellers. 

1. Cover Page
2. Title Page
3. Copyright Page
4. Contents
5. Preface
6. I - LANGUAGES AND LIFE
   1. FIRST CHAPTER - Languages, Providers of Life
      1. Human Societies and Languages as Vital Sources
      2. Artificial Languages and Languages Pulsing with Life
   2. CHAPTER II - Languages, Living Species
      1. Vitalism in Linguistics in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century
      2. The Life of Languages, Parallel to That of Human Societies: Schleicher's Legacy with an Anthropological Component Added
      3. The Other Side of Life
   3. CHAPTER III - Language and Speech
      1. The Opposition Between Langue and Parole in Linguistic Studies
      2. The Notion of a Dead Language in the Light of the Opposition Between Langue and Parole: Dead Languages, Structures Without Voice, but Not Without Existence
   4. CHAPTER IV - Words and the Struggle for Life
      1. Why Are Words Mortal?
      2. Wholesale Massacres
      3. Neology's Rich Harvest
7. II - LANGUAGES AND DEATH
   1. CHAPTER V - What Is a Dead Language?
      1. Dead Language Versus Classical Language
      2. Dead Languages Without Classical Status
   2. CHAPTER VI - The Paths to Extinction
      1. The Three Profiles of Disappearance
      2. Extinction by Stages
   3. CHAPTER 7 - The Battalion of Causes
      1. The Three Groups of Main Causes
      2. The Loss of Prestige and the Death of Languages
      3. Some Circumstances “Favorable” to the Extinction of Languages
   4. CHAPTER 8 - Taking Stock
      1. Definitions and Criteria
      2. Numerical Data on the Extinction of Languages in Various Parts of the World
      3. What Is Lost When Languages Die
   5. CHAPTER 9 - Factors in Preservation and the Struggle Against Disaster
      1. The Factors in Preservation
      2. The Struggle Against Disaster
8. III - LANGUAGES AND RESURRECTION
   1. CHAPTER X - Hebrew—From Life to Death and From Death to Life
      1. The Language of the Hebrews in Ancient Israel
      2. Jewish Languages, the Death of Hebrew in Oral Use, and Its Preservation in Literature
      3. The Resurrection of Hebrew
      4. A Few Distinctive Characteristics of Israeli Hebrew
      5. The Fate of Hebrew
   2. CHAPTER XI - New languages, creoles, promotions
      1. Rebirths, New Languages, Creoles, Promotions
      2. The Birth of a European Language and of Many Creole Languages
      3. The Political Promotion of a Language as a Revival Factor: The Modern History of Croatian
9. Conclusion
10. References
11. Index