Linguist K. David Harrison Discusses
Dying Languages on "The Colbert Report"

Assistant Professor of Linguistics K. David Harrison (right) discussed his new book, When Languages Die, on "The Colbert Report" on Sept. 25. Though Stephen Colbert  says of them "good riddance and adios," Harrison says irreplaceable knowledge about the natural world is lost as a result. Watch their exchange here.

Harrison has traveled the world to interview the last speakers of critically endangered languages as part of the National Geographic Society's Enduring Voices Project. He says more than half of the world's 7,000 languages are expected to become extinct by the end of the century.  more

News of the language hotspots that Harrison and his colleagues identified made headlines around the world, including in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, the Guardian UK, and The Australian.  Harrison also discussed his work on "Good Morning America".