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New York, a graveyard for languages</h1><span class="byline" style="color:rgb(80,80,80);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:16px;display:block;padding:0px 0px 12px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(216,216,216);font-size:13px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span class="byline-name" style="font-size:1.231em;font-weight:bold;display:block;padding-bottom:2px;margin-bottom:0px">By Dr Mark Turin</span><span class="byline-title" style="display:block;margin-bottom:0px">Linguist and broadcaster</span></span><div class="caption full-width" style="color:rgb(80,80,80);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:16px;clear:both;float:none;margin:0px 0px 15px;font-size:13px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64745000/jpg/_64745865_composite1.jpg" width="624" height="351" alt="Language in New York montage" style="border: 0px; -webkit-user-select: none; position: relative; letter-spacing: 0px; font-style: italic; "></div>
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<a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20716344#story_continues_1" style="color:rgb(74,113,148);text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="hyperpuff"><h2 style="margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:12px 0px;font-size:1.231em;overflow:hidden;border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(221,221,221);border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(221,221,221)">
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine/" style="color:rgb(255,255,255);line-height:inherit;text-decoration:none;display:block;padding:13px 8px;background-color:rgb(214,0,0)">In today's Magazine</a></h2><ul style="margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;list-style:none">
<li style="line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;background-image:none"><a class="story" rel="published-1355531623708" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20701058" style="color:rgb(74,113,148);line-height:16px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold">The hairy crabs of eastern China</a></li>
<li style="line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;background-image:none"><a class="story" rel="published-1337966859306" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2012/12/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_254.shtml" style="color:rgb(74,113,148);line-height:16px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold">10 things</a></li>
<li style="line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;background-image:none"><a class="story" rel="published-1355444532018" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20586070" style="color:rgb(74,113,148);line-height:16px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold">The women raped by guards in US prisons</a></li>
<li style="line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;background-image:none"><a class="story" rel="published-1355445058116" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20709545" style="color:rgb(74,113,148);line-height:16px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold">Quiz of the week's news</a></li>
</ul></div></div><p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;font-weight:bold;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
Home to around 800 different languages, New York is a delight for linguists, but also provides a rich hunting ground for those trying to document languages threatened with extinction.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
To hear the many languages of New York, just board the subway.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
The number 7 line, which leads from Flushing in Queens to Times Square in the heart of Manhattan takes you on a journey which would thrill the heart of a linguistic anthropologist.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
Each stop along the line takes you into a different linguistic universe - Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
And it is not just the language spoken on the streets that changes.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
Street signs and business names are also transformed, even those advertising the services of major multinational banks or hotel chains.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
In the subway, the information signs warning passengers to avoid the electrified rails are written in seven different languages.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif;line-height:18px;margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 18px;padding:0px;font-size:1.077em;clear:left">Access full article below: </p><div><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20716344">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20716344</a></div><p>
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