In the next hundred years, half of the approximately 6,000 languages still spoken in the world will disappear. Most of them will vanish without being documented first. Each of these languages still contains the thoughts, knowledge, and culture of its speakers. This book explores the implications for our shared intellectual and spiritual heritage. Nicholas Evans examines the loss that this massive language extinction means for humanity and uncovers a range of topics that deserve the highest interest in the search for answers: Why are there so many languages in the world? Wouldn't one be enough? What do we know about the relationship between thinking and speaking? Do people think differently in different languages? Can the variety of languages provide insights into the world and history? How can endangered languages that still exist be preserved?.