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This week, we would like to share an interesting article we recently read. Written by BBC’s Dr. Mark Turin, a well-known linguist and broadcaster, the article shares just a few of the different languages you would hear during a short ride on a New York City subway.
New York, a graveyard for languages
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.
Please read the entire article here
