The ​researchers estimated that the number topped out in a range from 30,000 to potentially more than 75,000 different languages used worldwide at any one time. “The situation ​where populations are increasing and using agriculture creates ​more sedentary communities and is ideal for ⁠the fostering of many, many small languages,” Bowern said. Just a few examples include the Sumerian, Hittite, Akkadian and Etruscan languages, various languages used in ancient Egypt and ancient China, and some African click languages. “The people who ​speak that language are killed or the people who speak that language shift — or are forced to shift — to another language,” Bowern said. About ​half of languages used today are deemed endangered.