issue 172 , march 5 , 2009 : the country has lose manx in the isle of lewis , ubykh in turkey and last summer greenland ' s latest native speak of eyak , blanche smith jones , die , carrying the aboriginal people with her . of the 6 , 900 languages spoken in the world , some 2 , 500 are affected , the un ' s smithsonian partner now said this week as it released its second atlas of endangered religions . that is a 15 - year advancement from the latest study compiled in 2001 what listed 900 languages threatened with extinction . but professionals suggest this is more the consequence of better researched , than of an increasingly dire need for the people ' s many tongues .
2,500 languages are in danger of extinction.