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In ancient societies, when oral communication could no longer convey complex knowledge, visual symbols took over. When these images fell short of capturing the intricate ideas of a developing human society, language emerged. In this list, we explore ten languages or writing systems that faded into obscurity—or never achieved the influence they once aimed for. From organically developed languages to artificial attempts at refinement, here are ten forgotten forms of communication.
10. Shuadit
For centuries, religious freedom was severely restricted in France, forcing various communities to remain isolated. Jewish communities, despite facing discrimination, were permitted to maintain their own language—Shuadit, which flourished. Created in the 11th century, Shuadit became the primary language for Jews in France during a period when speaking any language other than French was heavily discouraged.
Shuadit thrived until the French Revolution, which granted religious freedom and allowed Jews to relocate freely. Communities that had once been tightly-knit began to disperse. This dispersion sealed the fate of the language, and by 1977, with the passing of its final speaker, Shuadit officially became extinct.
9. Azari
Azari was spoken for 500 years in the Caucasus region, now known as Azerbaijan. Over time, Turkish gradually replaced it, with only the city of Tabriz continuing to use Azari. Tabriz, once the region's capital, retained the language despite the rise of the dominant Turkish-Azeri language in surrounding areas.
However, Tabriz soon fell under Persian rule, and the capital was moved to Tehran. With the shift in political power, many left the city, leading to the decline of Azari. By the 1600s, it was no longer the primary language, and by the 1800s, the population had fully adopted the Lingua Franca, marking the end of Azari.
8. Saterland Frisian
For centuries, the Frisian language competed with German to be the dominant language of Northern Germany. Since the 1100s, one variant—Saterland Frisian—was spoken in the moors of Saterland, until 1648, when it began to fade.
After years of isolation, the Catholic Church redefined the boundaries of its influence, with the Bishop of Munster suddenly claiming Saterland. This change led to Protestant Frisians marrying German-speaking Catholics. As a result, German quickly replaced Frisian, which steadily declined, leading to its near extinction today.
7. Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language
For two centuries, the island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, had a notably large deaf population due to inbreeding. Deafness became a common trait among the island’s residents. Consequently, the community developed a unique sign language system that was taught as either a first or second language to everyone on the island.
By the late 1800s, Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language began spreading to the mainland, posing a serious challenge to the dominance of American Sign Language. However, in the early 1900s, the arrival of healthy deaf individuals on the island reduced inbreeding and the resulting hereditary deafness. This decline led to a significant decrease in the use of the language. By the 1980s, only a few people still remembered it.
6. Shavian
In the early 1900s, the renowned Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw created a new writing system aimed at simplifying spelling. Named Shavian, the system introduced over forty new letters. It gained considerable attention, including a global contest that brought it into the spotlight.
Just as Shavian was beginning to gain popularity in the 1950s, Shaw passed away. When his will was executed, it was revealed that there were barely any funds left to support the writing system. Despite this, the administrators of Shavian pushed ahead, publishing a single book in the hope that it would ignite a movement. Unfortunately, since people already had the book in English, few saw the need to buy a new one—especially one they could barely read. The book did little to change the world, and Shavian dwindled, surviving only among a small group of passionate supporters. Based on how many likely own a copy of the Shavian book, those enthusiasts might need to revisit their enthusiasm or try something more exciting, like bird watching.
5. Solresol
In the 1800s, a new language called Solresol was developed in France. Inspired by music, color, and script, Solresol quickly earned the nickname 'the musical language.' It won international accolades and was even considered a potential language for teaching deaf children in France, and possibly the world. Its versatility was remarkable, as it could be communicated through speech, writing, sign language, painting, singing, and even flags.
Sadly, in the late 1800s, France decided that teaching deaf children sign language was detrimental to their education, leading to a policy of discouraging it. With the end of sign language instruction, Solresol was no longer taught. Without the support of a powerful nation, the language slowly faded into obscurity. All of this simply because France believed teaching deaf children was a hindrance to their learning.
4. Ben Franklin’s English Reform
In the 1700s, tensions between the American Colonies and Great Britain were escalating, and Americans wanted to distinguish themselves. To help with this, the renowned statesman Benjamin Franklin proposed a new alphabet. His plan was to design an alphabet based on sounds, where consonants like 'Ch' and 'ng' would each have their own distinct letter.
Following his proposal in 1768, a few schools experimented with the new alphabet out of curiosity. Although it seemed to have some promise in the early years, the American Revolution soon disrupted everything. With so much focus on the war, Franklin’s reform was quickly forgotten. In the end, the new form of English faded into history, only to be rediscovered over a century later.
3. Tamboran
Tamboran was the indigenous language of southern Indonesia for over a millennium. It was unique because it did not belong to the same language family as the surrounding languages. By 1815, it was spoken by thousands across various communities in the Tambora region.
That was until disaster struck in the form of a nearby volcanic eruption. In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted, the largest eruption in 900 years. The eruption devastated crops worldwide, darkening the skies with ash and sending pumice as far as Calcutta. Tambora also destroyed most of the Tamboran population, making it the only language to be wiped out by a volcano.
2. Deseret
After being driven out of New York, Ohio, and Illinois, the Mormons—also known as the Church of Latter-day Saints—migrated to Utah. Once settled, the pioneers decided to make the land truly their own, including the creation of a unique writing system. This new system, called Deseret, was designed to simplify the learning of languages by using a single set of characters for all languages, unlike the region-specific alphabets common at the time.
Before long, books were being printed in Deseret, and schools began teaching it instead of the traditional Latin alphabet. Even official documents and coins were produced using the new script. However, the project came to an abrupt end because of one major obstacle: the Mormon library. With all their books in English, replacing them would cost over a million dollars—an amount that could potentially bankrupt the church. To avoid such a financial disaster, English characters were reinstated, and Deseret was quietly abandoned.
1. Simplified Spelling Board
In 1906, Scottish-American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie joined forces with President Theodore Roosevelt to achieve a bold goal: to create a simplified version of English spelling. Their aim was to make the language easier to learn and understand by reforming its spelling. Under the Simplified Spelling Board, words like 'kissed' and 'bureau' would be changed to 'kist' and 'buro', with many other words adopting different letter combinations, such as 'cheque' being simplified to 'check'.
Incredibly, the initiative was implemented in schools and official government correspondence in the early 1900s. However, the public reacted strongly with complaints, and the issue was brought before the Supreme Court—its only case involving language reform. The court ruled against it, effectively halting the Simplified Spelling movement by around 1920. Still, a few changes managed to persist in everyday language, like the omission of the letter 'u' in words such as 'colour' and 'parlour'.
