New York, a graveyard for languages (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

15 December 2012 Last updated at 19:13 ET
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New York, a graveyard for languagesBy Dr Mark TurinLinguist and broadcaster
[image: Language in New York montage]
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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.

To hear the many languages of New York, just board the subway.

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.

Each stop along the line takes you into a different linguistic universe -
Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali.

And it is not just the language spoken on the streets that changes.

Street signs and business names are also transformed, even those
advertising the services of major multinational banks or hotel chains.

In the subway, the information signs warning passengers to avoid the
electrified rails are written in seven different languages.

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