How Many Languages Have Been Created?

By Maryann Yin 

Over the course of human history, how many languages have been created? The animated video above features a four-minute TED-Ed lesson called “How Languages Evolve.”

Throughout the lesson, educator Alex Gendler talks about “how linguists group languages into language families, demonstrating how these linguistic trees give us crucial insights into the past.” Linguistics fans can visit the TED Ed website to access a quiz, a discussion board, and more resources. What do you think?