The Endangered Language Alliance (ELA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2010 to document the least-known languages in the New York metropolitan area.[1] The ELA's methodology relies on longstanding collaborations between linguists and communities as well as ongoing conversations between academics and speakers of endangered languages.[2] [3] [4] [5] It is the only organization in the world focused on linguistic diversity of urban areas.[6]
The ELA's mission is to forge a future for languages. The organization's network is an extended family of linguists, language activists, community leaders, students, volunteers, and lovers of language in NYC and the world over. The organization works to support linguistic diversity through documentation, research, education and community engagement. A key aim of the alliance is to document endangered languages through various methods, including audio recordings, video recordings, and transcriptions. This documentation is used to create archives of endangered languages and to develop teaching and learning materials. Additionally, work is undertaken to support research on endangered languages through grants and fellowships. This research helps to better understand the structure and function of endangered languages and to develop strategies for language revitalization. The ELA also offers a variety of educational programs on endangered languages, including workshops, seminars, and conferences. These programs are designed to raise awareness of endangered languages and to provide training in language documentation and revitalization. And the organization works with communities of speakers of endangered languages to support their efforts to revitalize their languages. This support includes providing funding for language programs, developing teaching and learning materials, and promoting the use of endangered languages in public spaces.[3] [4]
The Endangered Language Alliance was featured in the book “Language City" by Ross Perlin, the organization's co-director. The book discusses the rich linguistic history of New York, from the Lenape word Manaháhtaan to present-day minority languages. In the book, Perlin visits a six-story apartment building in Flatbush that has been the home of about 100 speakers of Seke, a Tibetan-Burman language which is spoken by just 700 people in the world.