Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues

Contemporary cities are the most linguistically diverse in history, even as half of the world's 7000-plus languages are endangered. How did this happen, and what does it mean for the future of language? Ross Perlin, author of the Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues, describes the race to document and support little-known languages, following six remarkable yet ordinary speakers of endangered languages deep into their communities, from New York's outer borough neighborhoods to villages on the other side of the world, to learn how they are maintaining and reviving their languages against the odds. He also explores the languages themselves and the particular challenges and opportunities for language documentation, maintenance, and revitalization in urban areas. --- Event Details: https://my.princeton.edu/rsvp?id=1945219