Language death is neither new nor rare — a language disappears every fortnight. Often, the loss of a language undermines a vivid local identity, its traditions and history, subsumed by a broader identity characterized by dominant languages.

In Oman, the Gulf Cooperation Council country with the greatest linguistic diversity, eight of the country’s 10 languages are threatened or dying, according to UNESCO’s Atlas of Endangered Languages. They range from Jabbali, a South Arabic language spoken in the country’s Dhofar mountain range, to Kumzari, a severely endangered Southwestern Iranian language spoken by 5,000 people.

Since July, Omani linguist Said Al Jahdhami, an assistant professor at Sultan Qaboos University, has stepped up his calls to the Omani authorities to save these eight languages from extinction. According to his research in 2015, the minority languages in Oman belong to three families: the Indo-Iranian Kumzari, Lawati (also known as Khojki), Zadjali and Balochi; the Modern South Arabian Harsusi, Bathari, Hobyot, Mehri and Jabbali; and the Bantu language Swahili. Only Balochi and Swahili have enough world speakers to be considered safe from extinction.

UNESCO estimates the speakers of Oman’s endangered languages to number about 138,000 to 144,000. However, the local authorities have yet to conduct an official census.