Arin – The language that has been extinct for over a century

A language becomes extinct in a continent or in a country when there is no longer anyone who can speak it. This normally happens when there are no older people who can speak and pass on the language to younger generations. There are many languages around the world which have become extinct. Over a hundred other minority tribes in Russia are in danger of becoming extinct as fewer and fewer people speak the language, most of them being elderly people. Nine Russian languages became extinct before the 20th century. This includes Arin, Mator, Omok, Kot, Eastern Kamchadal, Yurats, Pumpokol, Chuvan and Kott. Currently, there is not a lot of information available on the extinct languages.

Arin is a language that was once spoken in Russia along the Yenisei River. The language became extinct in the 18th century. The language is classified as a Yenisian language together with other languages such as Asaan and Kot. Yenisian consists of 6 languages which are all now extinct apart from Ket. The other languages in the group are Assan, Yugh, Kot and Pumpokol. Yenedian languages are also spoken in Siberia. They share similarities with Turkic, Evenki and Samoyedic languages. The languages are known to have a set of grammatical genders which includes feminine, masculine and neutral.

Languages become extinct when they loose their importance in various spheres such as when they can no longer be freely spoken at home or among community members. Most language groups become assimilated with the dormant language spoken in the region. With colonization and globalization, a lot of people abandon their mother tongue in favor of speaking other languages that will help them communicate to a larger mass of people they come into contact with. Most countries also tend to promote one official language, which the citizens are required to know. Children are normally forced to speak a dominant language at school, which eventually makes them shy to speak their mother tongue. This has caused people to switch to some languages while neglecting smaller languages, which eventually disappear.

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