New York: ‘the city of endangered languages’
Tuesday, 4th May 2010
According to an article posted recently on the New York Times website, linguists now consider New York a laboratory for studying and preserving languages in rapid decline elsewhere in the world.
New York is a city that has long attracted immigrants from all kind of different countries and cultures, and as such has become one of the most multi-cultural and multi-ethnic cities in the world.
As a result, it is estimated that there are in the region of 800 languages spoken in New York, many in areas such as Queens that have always been a melting-pot of cultures.
It’s fantastic that New York is so embracing of immigrant cultures and languages, and ultimately it’s the city’s acceptance and promotion of these languages which could lead to their salvation.
The article mentions several examples of languages that are rapidly becoming extinct in the environment where they were originally spoken, which are still used amongst communities in New York. Included amongst them are Vlashki, a variant of Istro-Romanian that was traditionally spoken in remote mountain areas of Croatia, Bukhari, originally spoken in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and Ormuri, a language spopken by a small number of people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In recent years, linguists at various institutes in the city have made efforts to learn more about, and preserve some of these languages. One such project is the Endangered Language Alliance, set up by linguists including Daniel Kaufman, Professor at the City University of New York. The project aims to identify and record dying languages, some of which have no written alphabet, and to encourage people who speak them to teach what they know.
Encouraging second generation speakers of these languages to use them regularly is always harder when they are integrated into an English-speaking society, but it’s encouraging to know that efforts are being made to help. Language tells us so much about a group of people and their culture that when they die out, so too does a lot of information about the civilizations that spoke them…
Do you speak a language that is slowly declining in usage? If so, please let us know what it is, and what your thoughts are on how best to promote and increase its usage…
Cactus offers evening courses in 16 different languages in locations across America and Canada. We also offer individual, tailor-made training to cater for your specific language learning needs and can provide tutors in a huge range of languages. Please visit our website to submit a speculative enquiry, or to test your level using one of our online tests.
Read the full New York Times article
Tags: english, culture, languages, language, new york
Posted by Laura Harrison under Attitudes to Language Learning, Experience Cultures,
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Posted by Alexander Lapitsky on 05/26 at 12:03 PM
A wonderful article gave me an idea. I have a huge database with I LOVE YOU !
phrase in around 400 languages- and if somebody gives me the languages spoken in NYC we can match them and make NEW YORK I LOVE YOU ! with some other rare languages to reach ALL languages spoken in this beautiful city where I have been to but once.
Dr Alexander Lapitsky, author of PEACE in 100 LANGUAGES. Jalmar Press,USA, 1992.