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Linguistic 'golden age' peaked 3,000 years ago before rapid decline, study finds

A recent study published in the journal Science reveals that linguistic diversity peaked approximately 3,000 years ago, with tens of thousands of languages spoken worldwide. This period, described as a linguistic "golden age," was followed by a significant decline in language diversity over the last two millennia. The study suggests that the rise of large empires and later, colonialism, contributed to this loss, with dominant languages like English and Standard Chinese displacing smaller tongues. This trend of linguistic impoverishment also mirrors a broader extinction of cultural variants. AI

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RANK_REASON The cluster reports on a scientific study published in a journal about linguistic diversity. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=0.1]

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Linguistic 'golden age' peaked 3,000 years ago before rapid decline, study finds

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COVERAGE [1]

  1. 404 Media TIER_1 English(EN) · Becky Ferreira ·

    Scientists Uncover Lost ‘Golden Age’ of Languages That Ended 1,000 Years Ago

    Scientists have predicted that human linguistic diversity flourished between 3,000 and 1,000 years ago, before declining with the rise of multinational states and colonial expansion.