Language City: Author Talk with Ross Perlin
In this webinar, Ross Perlin, co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance, discussed his book Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York. Language City is a portrait of contemporary New York City through six speakers of little-known and overlooked languages, diving into the incredible history of the most linguistically diverse place ever to have existed on the planet. Following Ross's presentation, he was joined in conversation by Caitlin Meives, Director of Preservation at the Preservation League of NYS.
To close out the conversation, Ross said, “…in whatever way in your life, in your work, kind of add the lens of language to how you're seeing environments and situations… we live in still a fundamentally multilingual world, very much a multilingual city and state, and of course it can seem like it's a challenge but also it's a huge opportunity — something to kind of embrace and value and wonder at. So I I hope some sense of wonder also kind of emerges through Language City.”
About the book: Half of all 7,000-plus human languages may disappear over the next century and — because many have never been recorded — when they're gone, it will be forever. Ross Perlin, a linguist and co-director of the Manhattan-based nonprofit Endangered Language Alliance, is racing against time to map little-known languages across the most linguistically diverse city in history: contemporary New York. In Language City, Perlin recounts the unique history of immigration that shaped the city, and follows six remarkable yet ordinary speakers of endangered languages deep into their communities to learn how they are maintaining and reviving their languages against overwhelming odds. Perlin also dives deep into their languages, taking us on a fascinating tour of unusual grammars, rare sounds, and powerful cultural histories from all around the world.
A century after the anti-immigration Johnson-Reed Act closed America's doors for decades and on the 400th anniversary of New York's colonial founding, Perlin raises the alarm about growing political threats and the onslaught of "killer languages" like English and Spanish. Both remarkable social history and testament to the importance of linguistic diversity, Language City is a joyful and illuminating exploration of a city and the world that made it.
About the Author: Ross Perlin is a linguist, writer, and translator. He currently serves as co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance, managing research projects on mapmaking, documentation, policy, and public programming for urban linguistic diversity. He has written for the New York Times, The Guardian, Harper's, and n+1, and is author of the book Intern Nation: How to Learn Nothing and Earn Little in the Brave New Economy. Perlin was a New Arizona Fellow at New America, and he is a native New Yorker.
This author talk was presented as part of the Preservation League of NYS's Preservation Book Club. Thank you to our sponsor, the Peggy N. & Roger G. Gerry Charitable Trust.