It is a language spoken by a minority of people in the nation and for that reason is held in low esteem, causing its speakers to avoid using it or passing it on to their children. Mohawk and Onondaga are still spoken in upstate New York but only by older adults. Many languages today have only one remaining speaker, an older person who will take that language with him or her to the grave. Because it is not useful in the society, perhaps even a social liability, an endangered language is not passed on by parents to their children. Speaking the majority language better equips children for success in the majority culture than speaking a less prestigious language.
Some governments actively discourage minority language use.
For decades, it was illegal to speak Macedonian or sing Macedonian songs in Greece. That situation is reflected in the history of Native American languages in the United States. No one knows exactly how many languages and dialects exist in the world today but best estimates place the figure around 7,327. World's Top Ten Languages First-language speaker estimates given in millions 1. Mandarin Chinese 726,000,000 2.