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language death

the extinction of a language. The usual cause is a gradual shift to the use of another language in the younger generations of a speech community, so that the original language dies out with the older generation. In the early 21st century, it has been estimated that languages are dying out at a rate of two or three every month. By other estimates, which put the number of languages currently spoken at more than 6,000, roughly half will disappear by the end of the century. See language shift.

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Psychology term of the day

February 24th 2025

simple structure

simple structure

in exploratory factor analysis, a set of criteria for determining the adequacy of a factor rotation solution. These criteria require that each factor show a pattern of high factor loadings on certain variables and near-zero loadings on others and that each variable load on only one factor. This minimizes the complexity of the factor solution, allows each variable to be most strongly identified with a specific factor, and increases interpretability.