The world's least spoken seven languages – one only used by four people

English, Chinese, Hindi and Arabic might dominate the languages of the world but pockets of much smaller spoken traditions remain dotted around the globe. These little-known languages are on the brink of dying out.

In some cases, single solitary speakers keep the language alive.

While some of the world’s least widely spoken languages are found in the Amazon or islands of Polynesia others can be found in Europe and North America.

In total, there are believed to be over seven thousand different languages in use with the least known seven of those explored below.

Papai

Jaspuy Pai, also referred to as Papai, is a Yuman language that is spoken by native populations in Baja California, a region of northern Mexico.

There were thought to be 200 or so Paipai speakers in 2015.

The unfortunate trend is that younger generations are choosing to learn Spanish instead of Paipai, so the use of Paipai is dwindling.

Wymysorys

Also referred to as Vilamovian or Wilamowicean. Spoken in Wilamowice, which is located in Poland’s southern province of Silesia.

Before the turn of the 20th century, Wymysorys was Wilamowice’s official language. But after World War II, Wymysorys were outlawed by the government until 1956, forcing many locals to switch to speaking Polish.

According to the language blog Lingoda, the Polish town had fewer than 20 native Wymysorys speakers as of 2017.

Njerep

There were only four speakers of Njerep, a Mambiloid language spoken in Cameroon’s Adamawa region, according to reports from 2007.

At that point, the youngest speaker was about sixty years old.

Njerep is no longer regularly spoken, and none of its speakers are fluent in the language, making it critically endangered.

Taushiro

The language known as Taushiro, also known as Pinche or Pinchi, was widely spoken in the Peruvian Amazon, close to Ecuador.

Nevertheless, there is now only one speaker of the language left in the world as a result of an epidemic in the 1960s and the marriage of Taushiro speakers with people who speak Spanish and Quechua.

Satawalese

Predominantly spoken on Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia, it is also found on other islands like Lamotrek and Pulusut.

Despite its relatively larger speaker count, Satawalese has not gained broader recognition, as English, the official language of Micronesia, is more widely spoken by the population.

Tsuut’ina

The Athabaskan language known as tsuut’ina, which translates to “many people,” is mainly spoken on the Tsuu T’ina Nation Indian Reserve 145 in Alberta, Canada.

Ninety Tsuut’ina speakers were counted as first-language speakers in Canada in the 2016 census. Some sources, however, put the number of native speakers closer to fifty, including a few “partial” speakers.

When kids were forced to speak English in residential boarding schools, the use of Tsuut’ina, formerly known as Sarcee, drastically decreased.

Ongota

The native tongue of the Ongota hunter-gatherer people in southwest Ethiopia is called Ongota.

As of 2009, only 12 elders out of the approximately 100 members of the Ongota tribe were known to speak the language fluently.

Without a concerted effort to revive struggling languages such as these, the communities and cultures that have sustained them face being consumed by the dominate cultures.

For those fancying a challenge in the New Year perhaps taking up a dying language could be a place to begin.