Linguists generally agree that almost half of the world’s nearly 7,000 languages will be extinct within the next century as dominant languages take over and indigenous languages die with their last remaining speakers. The United States is no different. Linguist Marcia Haag says many Native American languages are on the verge of extinction. “Small languages, the languages of people without political power, the people without economic power, or just the people who are few in number are always