@jeroen
There was a thing I read from an anthropological linguist: languages that don't change, die. Not every language that changes survives, but pretty much every language that doesn't change fails within a couple generations.
I've wondered ever since how much more that might apply to.
@simontatham
@dpflug @simontatham s/change/adapt/ and one is full circle with survival of the fittest -- Darwin++ :)
But which way does the causality go? Could it be that moribund languages have too few young speakers to drive change? If all the speakers of a language are grandparents then first it'll ossify and then it'll die out, but the ossification won't be the cause of death.
Edit: glide-typo.
@CppGuy
It's curious, right? :) I don't know. It would make sense.
@jeroen @simontatham