Figure 4.13 Distribution of the world’s nearly extinct languages. This chart shows the regional distribution of the world’s nearly extinct languages, or those languages for which only a few elderly speakers are still alive. In 2013 “dying” languages accounted for 12.7 percent of the world’s total living languages, whereas 20.8 percent were considered to be “in trouble.” (Source: http://www.ethnologue.com/world.)