* Defining "no longer spoken" is tricky: Does it mean absolutely no one speaks it, or does it include languages with only a few remaining speakers?
* Documentation is incomplete: Many languages were never written down or studied, so their existence and eventual disappearance are unknown.
* Languages evolve: Some languages blend or merge over time, making it difficult to determine when one language truly "died" and another emerged.
However, we can say this:
* Language extinction is a real problem: Thousands of languages have gone extinct over the past few centuries.
* The rate of extinction is accelerating: Globalization, urbanization, and the dominance of major languages contribute to this.
* Estimates vary greatly: Some estimates suggest that over 90% of the world's languages could be extinct by the end of the century.
It's important to remember that language loss is a significant cultural loss, and efforts to preserve endangered languages are crucial.