The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), developed by Lewis and Simons (2010) as an expansion of Joshua Fishman's GIDS, measures a language's status in terms of endangerment or development.[1][2]
The table below shows the various levels on the scale:
More information Level, Label ...
| Level |
Label |
Description |
UNESCO |
| 0 | International | "The language is widely used between nations in trade, knowledge exchange, and international policy." | Safe |
| 1 | National | "The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government at the national level." |
| 2 | Provincial | "The language is used in education, work, mass media, and government within major administrative subdivisions of a nation." |
| 3 | Wider Communication | "The language is used in work and mass media without official status to transcend language differences across a region." |
| 4 | Educational | "The language is in vigorous use, with standardization and literature being sustained through a widespread system of institutionally supported education." |
| 5 | Developing | "The language is in vigorous use, with literature in a standardized form being used by some though this is not yet widespread or sustainable." |
| 6a | Vigorous | "The language is used for face-to-face communication by all generations and the situation is sustainable." |
| 6b | Threatened | "The language is used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users." | Vulnerable |
| 7 | Shifting | "The child-bearing generation can use the language among themselves, but it is not being transmitted to children." | Definitely Endangered |
| 8a | Moribund | "The only remaining active speakers of the language are members of the grandparent generation and older." | Severely Endangered |
| 8b | Nearly Extinct | "The only remaining speakers of the language are members of the grandparent generation or older who have little opportunity to use the language." | Critically Endangered |
| 9 | Dormant | "The language serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community, but no one has more than symbolic proficiency." | Extinct |
| 10 | Extinct | "The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language." |
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Fishman's GIDS had levels 1 to 8.[3] EGIDS adds levels 0, 9 and 10, and splits Fishman's levels 6 and 8 into two parts each.[1]
The EGIDS model has become widely known, cited in 911 publications as of May 2025.[4]
This model was developed for spoken languages. It has also been adapted for use with sign languages.[5]