107: Urban Multilingualism

About this episode

This episode discusses urban multilingualism and the complexities of language representation in cities, featuring insights from the book 'Language City' by Ross Perlin.

When we try to represent languages on a map, it's common to assign each language a zone or a point which represents some idea of where it's used or where it comes from. But in reality, people move around, and many cities are host to hundreds of languages that don't show up on official records. In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about urban multilingualism! We talk about a recent book we've been enjoying called Language City by Ross Perlin, about the over 700 languages spoken in New York City, as well as how we've noticed urban multilingualism for ourselves in Melbourne, Montreal, and elsewhere. We also talk about organizations that work with communities interested in reclaiming space for their languages, what linguistic rights are, and how to tell if yours are being taken away from you. Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: https://pod.link/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjE1NzMxNzE3Mg Read the transcript here: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/792539370903207936/transcript-episode-107 Announcements: In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about linguistic landscapes! We…

People in this episode

Hosts: Gretchen McCulloch, Lauren Gawne

Topics covered

• urban multilingualism
• language mapping
• linguistic rights
• community language reclamation
• language diversity in cities

Keywords

• urban multilingualism
• language mapping
• New York City
• linguistic rights
• language diversity
• community organizations
• language reclamation

Mentioned in this episode

Places: New York City, Melbourne, Montreal

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