長文読解（人文系・自然科学系の文章）- 問題113

Language extinction is one of the most pressing issues in modern linguistics. Every two weeks, a language disappears forever, taking with it unique ways of understanding the world. Currently, over 3,000 of the world's 7,000 languages are endangered, with many spoken by fewer than 1,000 people.
The loss of linguistic diversity has profound implications beyond communication. Each language contains specialized knowledge about local ecosystems, traditional medicine, and cultural practices that have been refined over generations. For instance, the Pirahã language of the Amazon has no words for exact numbers beyond two, reflecting a completely different relationship with mathematical concepts.
Linguists are racing against time to document these vanishing languages through digital archives and community-based preservation programs. However, the most effective approach involves empowering younger generations to actively use their ancestral languages in daily life, ensuring that these irreplaceable cultural treasures survive into the future.