# What do we lose with a language?

**What is lost when a language falls silent?**

A language holds names for plants, songs, jokes and ways of being polite. Communities and linguists are still working out what can be kept in a recording and what needs a living speaker.

Connects to:
- [Languages at risk](https://mapideas.org/i/la_dying)
- [Language and belonging](https://mapideas.org/i/cu_lang)
- [Colonial history](https://mapideas.org/i/cu_colonial)

Source: https://mapideas.org/i/q_x_lose_lang · open on the map: https://mapideas.org/#q_x_lose_lang