Natural disasters, famine, diseases, war and genocide are causes which could put the speakers of languages in physical danger;

War, genocide, severe natural disasters, famine and diseases are able to wipe out an entire population. Because of this they have the capability of endangering a language. Examples of cases where this happened are the Miskito language in Nicaragua and the languages spoken by the people of the Andaman Islands

 

Political repression could endanger a language. For example when nations want to promote a single national culture. Often the opportunities for using minority languages in public, schools, the media and elsewhere are limited or even prohibited.

 

Cultural/political/economical marginalization could cause endangerments. In some regions people have a better chance to get employed or they can achieve a higher social status by speaking a different language. Also a religion could force people to speak the language of the religion. Technology also causes people to speak different languages.

 

Urbanization could cause endangerments. If people move to other areas, they are often forced to speak the language of their new environment. Eventually, later generations will not be able to speak their native language, which causes language endangerments.

 

Intermarriage can also cause language endangerment, since most of the time a married couple will speak only one language to each other. This may lead to their children speaking the only one language instead of multiple.