Prospect Press Assembly Programming and Computer Architecture for Software Engineers 1943153329 download pdf
Prospect Press Assembly Programming and Computer Architecture for Software Engineers 1943153329 download pdf
Prospect Press Assembly Programming and Computer Architecture for Software Engineers 1943153329 download pdf
https://ebookultra.com
https://ebookultra.com/download/the-multilingual-
apple-languages-in-new-york-city-2nd-ed-with-a-
new-foreword-2002-edition-ofelia-garcia-editor/
https://ebookultra.com/download/the-multilingual-apple-languages-in-
new-york-city-2nd-ed-edition-joshua-a-fishman/
ebookultra.com
The New York Times Almanac 2002 1st Edition John Wright
https://ebookultra.com/download/the-new-york-times-almanac-2002-1st-
edition-john-wright/
ebookultra.com
https://ebookultra.com/download/red-apple-communism-and-mccarthyism-
in-cold-war-new-york-1st-edition-deery/
ebookultra.com
https://ebookultra.com/download/new-york-city-for-dummies-4th-edition-
brian-silverman/
ebookultra.com
The Power of Ideas Second Edition With A New Foreword
Isaiah Berlin
https://ebookultra.com/download/the-power-of-ideas-second-edition-
with-a-new-foreword-isaiah-berlin/
ebookultra.com
https://ebookultra.com/download/frommer-s-portable-new-york-
city-2005-brian-silverman/
ebookultra.com
https://ebookultra.com/download/frommer-s-portable-new-york-
city-2006-brian-silverman/
ebookultra.com
https://ebookultra.com/download/new-york-city-politics-governing-
gotham-bruce-f-berg/
ebookultra.com
Anarchy New York City January 1988 1st Edition John Cage
https://ebookultra.com/download/anarchy-new-york-city-
january-1988-1st-edition-john-cage/
ebookultra.com
The Multilingual Apple Languages in New York City 2nd
ed. with a new foreword. 2002 Edition Ofelia GarcÃa
(Editor) Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Ofelia GarcÃa (editor); Joshua A. Fishman (editor)
ISBN(s): 9783110885811, 3110885816
Edition: 2nd ed. with a new foreword. 2002
File Details: PDF, 64.72 MB
Year: 2001
Language: english
The Multilingual Apple
W DE
G
The Multilingual Apple
Languages in New York City
Second edition
with a new foreword
Edited by
Ofelia Garcia
Joshua A. Fishman
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York 2002
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin
NTN
1ΙΓΤ TT
ΤΝ ,T
,^ΊϋΒ^ΝΠ Π^^-
( 1 9 1 9 ) ρΊΝ''-T'J V
their ancestral language, and recognition to those who still speak it. But
beyond our hopes for intra-ethnic comfort and self-knowledge, we hope
that the book will be able to build an improved forum for inter-ethnic
communication, where all of us, whether speakers of Standard American
English, a different variety of English, or LOTEs, work to make the city
a better place in the future.
Our children and grandchildren will surely be better speakers of Eng-
lish than of LOTEs, but in the city, and in our extended world, they will
continue to live side by side with many multilingual others. It is the hope
of the editors that this book alleviate some of the ignorance and
contempt in which we have held U. S. urban ethnolinguistic minorities,
so that our children can inherit a more inclusive and compassionate city.
And beyond compassion, perhaps we will gain some understanding of
the value of bilingualism and LOTEs for Americans as individuals and
for U. S. society in general.
Contents
Foreword ix
Ofelia Garcia and Joshua A. Fishman
Contributors 355
Index 357
I INTRODUCTION
TO THE MULTILINGUAL APPLE
New York's multilingualism:
World languages and their role in a U. S. cityl
Ofelia Garcia
"On the island of Manhate, and in its environs, there may well be four or five
hundred men of different sects and nations: The Director General told me that
there were men of eighteen different languages." (Father Jogues of the Society of
Jesus, 1646, quoted in Federal Writers' Project 1938b: 81)
"The city of New York is composed of inhabitants from all the countries of Chris-
tendom." (James Fenimore Cooper, 1827-1828, quoted in Rosenwaike 1972)
"The city is like poetry: it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small
island .... The collision and the intermingling of these millions of foreign born
people representing so many races and creeds make New York a permanent ex-
hibit of the phenomenon! of one world." (E. B. White, 1949. Here is New York.
New York: Curtis Publication Company, Quoted in Klein, ed. 1955: 8).
"I do not know of a single European country ready or able to conceive of, much
less deal with, the multinational mosaic I daily encounter in New York." (Gross
1990: 9)
1. Introduction
The citations above attest to the great ethnolinguistic diversity that has
characterized New York City since the seventeenth century and does still
today. Yet, despite this great and long-standing linguistic diversity there
are no studies of the multilingualism of New York City. Scholars have
paid well-deserved attention to the city's immigrants, its foreign-born
population, its multiethnic character.2 Other scholars have studied the
city's economy and trade.3 Linguists and sociolinguists have studied Eng-
lish in New York.4 But little has been said about the city's multilingualism
and the way in which Languages Other than English (LOTEs from now
on) have always been used in city life.5
This paper documents, describes and analyzes New York's multilin-
gualism, today and in the past, claiming for New York its rightful title as
the most multilingual city in the world. Through anecdotes, census data
and historical evidence, the long-standing presence of many LOTEs in
4 Ofelia Garcia
the city is made evident, demonstrating that standard English has never
been, and cannot be considered today, New York's vernacular.6 The pa-
per also documents the public use of LOTEs by New Yorkers in busi-
nesses and institutions today, as well as in the past, and the benefits
accrued to all New Yorkers as a result. In this regard, we will see that
there is a lack of fit between the official non-recognition of New York's
multilingualism, the linguistic practices of its LOTE-speaking citizens,
and the official multilingual policies that New York City has adopted for
use in its agencies with non-English speaking clients in the last decade.
The paper starts by describing in detail New York's multilingualism as
the 20th century comes to a close, drawing on anecdotal evidence, as well
as census data. It then questions whether the multilingual situation of
today is an historical anomaly, first by comparing it with the rest of
the 20th century and then with our more remote past. The history of
multilingualism in New York is provided within an interpretative lan-
guage policy framework, analyzing not only the presence of LOTEs in
New York, but also the government's response to them in relation to the
city's socioeconomic and sociopolitical context. Finally, the paper looks
at how LOTEs are being used in the city today, both by business and
government, thus making apparent the city's implicit language policy.
• When New Yorkers get into a taxicab, they're most likely to have an
Urdu speaking driver. This was the finding of a 1992 survey by the
NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (Kandel 1992). The Commis-
sion also concluded that New York taxi drivers speak over sixty dif-
ferent languages and sometimes English is not one of them.
• New Yorkers involved in Court proceedings can get interpretation in
forty-four different languages. Spanish is the language most requested
for interpretation, but Spanish is followed by Chinese, then Russian,
Korean, Arabic, Polish and then surprisingly Wolof (See Table 11, this
paper).
• New York's school children can speak fifty different languages in a
single school. This is the case of Intermediate School 237 in Queens
(Jones 1994).
• Spanish-speaking New Yorkers are more numerous than Spanish-
speakers of thirteen Latin American capitals. In 1990, 1,486,815 New
Yorkers claimed to speak Spanish at home. This represents more Span-
ish speakers than those who live in Asuncion, Guatemala, La Paz,
Lima, Managua, Montevideo, Panama, Quito, San Jose, San Juan,
San Salvador, Santiago de Chile and Tegucigalpa.
• New Yorkers often learn a second LOTE before learning English as a
second language. For example, Margolis (1994: 243—4) recounts her
experience with Brazilian New Yorkers:
I was amazed at the number of Brazilians who spoke a minimal amount
of English but who had no problem communicating in Spanish. When I
was interviewing one Brazilian in her apartment, the doorbell rang, and
the visitor turned out to be a Spanish-speaking woman handing out
pamphlets for the Jehovah's Witnesses. They had a brief discussion in
Spanish .... This woman speaks almost no English after more than two
years in New York but handles Spanish with ease. Parenthetically, her Bra-
zilian husband, who has also learned Spanish since coming to New York,
prepared for and received his First Communion in Spanish at a local His-
panic church.
That LOTEs are a way of life in New York City is attested by all the
anecdotal evidence above. But what is the sociolinguistic profile of New
Yorkers? What languages do they speak at home and what is their Eng-
lish language ability? The answers to these questions, derived from the
1990 census, are extremely important, especially for institutions of higher
education which might have to adapt their English language expectations
and their curriculum to fit the sociolinguistic profile of New Yorkers.
World languages and their role in a U. S. city 7
2.2. Are New Yorkers really multilingual? Some evidence from the 1990
census
The limitation of all census data is that it is based on self-report. Thus,
the sociolinguistic profile of New Yorkers given in this section reveals
only what New Yorkers say they do, rather than give us objective mea-
sures of their language use. Another shortcoming of this data is that the
1990 census seriously undercounted the language minority population, in
particular the undocumented. Yet a third problem with this data is that
the U. S. census has little historical experience with LOTE use, making
trend comparisons difficult. Up to 1970, the census asked for the respon-
dents' mother tongue; specifically it asked about the language spoken in
the respondents' home in childhood. Since 1980, the census seeks infor-
mation only about the language used by the respondent in the home. A
final limitation is that the U. S. census has little familiarity with the lin-
guistic diversity of Asian and African countries from which many immi-
grants have recently come. Thus, linguistic categories for these languages
are often inaccurate.7 Nevertheless, as we will see, the census is a rich
source to answer the following four questions that together reveal a so-
ciolinguistic profile of New Yorkers:
a. What are the household languages in New York City?
b. What are the different languages spoken by New Yorkers at home?
c. What is the English language ability of New Yorkers who use
LOTEs at home?
d. Are New Yorkers maintaining their LOTEs or are they shifting to
English? And what is the differential rate of maintenance or shift
for the different LOTEs?
a. What are the household languages in New York City?
As shown in Table 1, almost one-half (46%) of households in New York
speak a LOTE, and the other half (54%) speak English. In understanding
the English spoken by this 54% at home, it is important to bear in mind
that 25% of New Yorkers in 1990 were black, and thus New York English
certainly includes both African American varieties of English, as well as
varieties of Caribbean English (See Winer and Jack, this volume).8 Stan-
dard English is definitely not the vernacular of the majority of New
Yorkers.
It is also important to point out that almost a fourth of households
in New York speak Spanish (24%), making Spanish a very important
language for New Yorkers. In fact, English is spoken only by twice the
number of households as Spanish.
8 Ofelia Garcia
Table 1
Household languages in 1990, NYC4
* Source: 1990 Census of Population and Housing. Public Use Micro Data Sample.
Table 2
Languages at home in NYC, 1990*
LANGUAGE Total Spks" % Total Pop % LOTE-Spks Total % Spks this LOTE
Spks this Lang. Spks this LOTE SpKs this LOTE NOT Eng-Spk
NOT Eng-Spkb
SpecificLOTEs
Spanish 1,486,815 20.42% 53.63% 397,380 26.7%
0
Chinese 211,447 2.91% 7.81% 92,123 43.6%
Italian 202,538 2.78% 7.31% 31,486 15.6%
French 105,756 1.45% 3.81% 11,925 11.3%
Yiddish 93,529 1.28% 3.37% 8,532 9.1%
Russian 65,895 .91% 2.38% 24,406 37.0%
Korean 62,671 .86% 2.26% 26,259 41.9%
Greek 55,461 .76% 2.00% 9,793 17.7%
German 49,271 .68% 1.78% 2,033 4.1%
Polish 47,575 .65% 1.72% 12,230 25.7%
FrenchCreole 43,660 .60% 1.57% 8,222 18.8%
Hebrew 40,044 .56% 1.44% 1.964 4.9%
Hindi-Urdu 37,123 .51% 1.34% 5,017 13.5%
Filipino-Tagalog 35,094 .48% 1.27% 1,554 4.4%
Arabic 31,460 .43% 1.13% 4,028 12.8%
Portuguese 14,649 .20% .53% 3,286 22.5%
Hungarian 14,464 .20% .52% 2,217 15.3%
Japanese 13,277 .18% .48% 2,889 21.8%
SerboCroatian 11,967 .16% .43% 2,495 20.9%
Kru-Ibo-Yoruba 10,508 .14% .38% 174 1.7%
Rumanian 10,424 .14% .38% 1,967 18.9%
Bengali 10,405 .14% .38% 1,248 12.0%
PersianFarsiDari 9,187 .13% .33% 1,803 19.6%
Ukranian 7,489 .10% .27% 875 11.7%
Gujarati 7,331 .10% .26% 1,176 16.1%
Malayalam 7,200 .10% .26% 803 11.2%
Vietnamese 5,948 .08% .21% 2,098 35.3%
Albanian 5,791 .08% .21% 1,137 19.6%
Turkish 5,544 .08% .20% 767 13.8%
Armenian 5,223 .07% .19% 757 14.5%
ThaiLaotn 4,608 .06% .17% 894 19.4%
JamaicanCreole 4,490 .06% .16% 248 5.5%
Croatian 4,207 .06% .15% 592 14.1%
Patois 3,902 .05% .14% 203 5.2%
IrishGaelic 3,715 .05% .13% 130 3.5%
Punjabi 3,709 .05% .13% 668 18.0%
Dutch 3,288 .05% .12% 0 0.0%
Table 2 (Continued)
Languages at home in NYC, 1990*
LANGUAGE Total Spksa % Total Pop % LOTE-Spks Total % Spks this LOTE
Spks this Lang. Spks this LOTE SpKs this LOTE NOT Eng-Spk
NOT Eng-Spkb
* Source: 1990 Census of Population and Housing. Public Use Micro Data Sample.
a
Only those 5 years old and above are included.
b
Represents those who answered Not Well or Not at All in English language ability.
c
For this table we have summed up results that the Census breaks up into three categories:
Chinese (Cantonese,Yueh, Min) with 206,515 claimants and 90,220 non-English profi-
cient; Formosan (Nan, Min) with 3,351 claimants and 1,194 non-English proficient; and
Mandarin (Hanan, Hopei, Pei) with 1,581 claimants and 709 non-English proficient.
d
This category includes all LOTEs that received less than .01%.
World languages and their role in a U. S. city 11
Table 3
Ability to speak English of LOTE claimants in NYC*
English ability No. of claimants %
* Source: 1990 Census of Population and Housing. Public Use Micro Data Sample.
(76%) of New Yorkers who speak LOTEs at home are bilingual, claiming
to speak English either very well (51%) or well (25%). This is an impor-
tant finding since it confirms that most New Yorkers who speak LOTEs
at home choose to do so, even when English is an option, given their
language proficiency. In fact, only 7% of those who speak LOTEs at
home are LOTE monolinguals, indicating that LOTE-speaking New
Yorkers are, for the most part, bilingual.
d. Are New Yorkers maintaining their LOTEs or are they shifting to
English? And what is the differential rate of maintenance or shift for
the different LOTEs?
The multilingualism of New Yorkers is obvious from the above census
data. Yet, it is important to consider whether New Yorkers' multilin-
gualism is a transitional phenomenon!, as it is in other places in the
United States, or whether New Yorkers' multilingualism is more stable.
Table 4 attempts to answer this very important question by trying to
determine the percentage of native born New Yorkers who still speak
their LOTE at home, since intergenerational transmission depends upon
LOTE use at home especially by the mother (Fishman 1966).
As shown in Table 4, the most important ancestry group of New York-
ers is the Latino one, with Puerto Ricans constituting 50% of the Latino
ancestry. Latinos are followed by those of Italian ancestry, and then Irish,
German, West Indian (not shown in Table), Russian-Ukrainian, Polish,
Chinese, Asian Indian, Greek, Hungarian and Korean. Some groups are
heavily foreign born, especially the Koreans (82% foreign born), followed
by the Chinese (73% foreign born), Latinos (61% foreign born), Asian
Indians (45% foreign born) and the Greeks (38% foreign born). Some
groups are heavily native born, with the Irish having only 6% foreign
born, followed by the Germans (only 9% foreign born), the Italians (12%
foreign born), and the Hungarians (19% foreign born).
World languages and their role in a U. S. city 13
Table 4
Rate of language maintenance of ethnolinguistic groups in NYC*
* Source: Selected Social Characteristics. 1980 and 1990 Summary Tape Files 3 and 4. 1990
Census of Population and Housing. Public Use Micro Data Sample. From Department of
City Planning 1993. Socioeconomic Profiles. A Portrait of New York City's community
Districts from the 1980 and 1990 Censuses of Population Housing.
a
NB LOTE Use has been calculated by subtracting the total foreign born population from
the total LOTE Use. An assumption has been made that the foreign born population
speaks LOTE at home.
b
LOTE Maintenance has been calculated by dividing the number of the NB LOTE Use
by the number of native born population.
c
Latinos include the following categories, given here in order of frequency:
Puerto Ricans 851,291; Dominicans 328,634; Colombians 85,975; Ecuadorians 76,144;
Cubans 58,381; Mexicans 57,298; Salvadorans 25,030; Peruvians 23,798; Panamanians,
21,929; Spaniards 20,210; Hondurans 20,154; Guatemalans 15,765; Argentineans 13,934;
Nicaraguans 9,660; Costa Ricans 6,920; Chileans 6,721; Venezuelans 4,172; Bolivians
3,465; Uruguayans 3,233; Paraguayans 1,380; other South Americans 912; other Central
Americans 452; others 89,354.
d
This figure includes Puerto Ricans born in the island.
e
The fifth ancestry group in New York is West Indian. It is not included here because
language maintenance of English Creole cannot be arrived at through census figures.
man 1966, 1972). Paulston (1994: 9) has said that "[EJthnic groups within
a modern nation-state, given opportunity and incentive, typically shift to
the language of the dominant group." Do ethnic New Yorkers fit within
this generalization? And do all ethnolinguistic groups behave similarly?
Table 4 shows that all groups are experiencing shift to English, but at
differing rates. The rate of shift to English is proceeding at extremely
rapid rates among Poles, Russians and Germans. Even first generation
immigrants of these three groups are using English at home (as shown
by the minus signs in the last column), revealing a faster rate of shift to
English than what has been historically expected, since second generation
Polish, Russian and German New Yorkers can then be expected to be
English monolinguals. The historical pattern of English language shift by
the third generation is also very evident in the case of Hungarians and
Italians. Only 1% of native born Hungarians and 14% of native born
Italians speak their LOTE at home, guaranteeing the shift to English of
the entire group by the third generation.
Koreans and Greeks have a somewhat slower rate of English language
shift than do Hungarians and Italians, with 42% of the native born Ko-
rean population and 47% of the US born Greeks claiming to speak their
LOTE at home. Because less than half of native born Koreans and
Greeks are able to transmit their LOTE to their children, it is likely that
English language shift will occur by the third generation, although it is
also possible that some will remain bilingual.
A slower rate of English language shift than that which has been his-
torically expected is being experienced especially by Latinos, Chinese and
Asian Indians. Over half of the native born second generation Latinos,
Chinese and Asian Indians use their LOTE at home, making it more
likely that their bilingualism will persist longer.
A word of caution is necessary so the reader does not interpret this to
mean that the bilingualism of Latinos, Chinese and Asian Indians in New
York is stable and not transitory (see chapters by Zentella, Pan and
Sridhar, this volume). What these results imply is that despite the use of
English at home of almost half the population of native born Latinos,
Chinese and Asian Indians, the use of the LOTEs by the majority of the
native born in these groups will guarantee a longer period of bilingualism
spanning the second and third generation.
A number of social factors seem to support the slower shift to English
of these three groups. On the one hand, these three groups are among
the four with a larger foreign born population, allowing for the use of
World languages and their role in a U. S. city 15
Table 5
LOTES at home in NYC, 1990 and 1980*
SpecificLOTEs
Spanish 1,486,815 20.4% 1,260,040 17.8%
Chinese* 211,447 2.9% 112,800 1.6%
Italian 202,538 2.8% 289,660 4.1%
French 105,756 1.5% 101,660 1.4%
Yiddish 93,529 1.3% 133,820 1.9%
Russian 65,895 .9% 40,800 .6%
Korean 62,671 .9% 21,340 .3%
Greek 55,461 .8% 70,980 1.0%
German 49,271 .7% 73,500 1.0%
Polish 47,575 .7% 43,860 .6%
FrenchCreole 43,660 .6% 6,160 .1%
Hebrew 40,044 .6% 30,980 .4%
Hindi-Urdu 37,123 .5% 15,500b .2%
Filipino-Tagalog 35,094 .5% 18,860 .3%
Arabic 31,460 .4% 17,580 .2%
Portuguese 14,649 .2% 9,320 .1%
Hungarian 14,464 .2% 22,640 .3%
Japanese 13,277 .2% 11,300 .2%
SerboCroatian 11,967 .2% 15,900 .2%
Kru-Ibo-Yoruba 10,508 .1% 3,880 .1%
Rumanian 10,424 .1% 6,760 .1%
Bengali 10,405 .1%
PersianFarsiDari 9,187 .1% 5,280 .1%
Ukranian 7,489 .1% 9,960 .1%
Gujarati 7,331 .1%
Malayalam 7,200 .1%
Vietnamese 5,948 .1% 1,800 .1%
Albanian 5,791 .1% 3,580 .1%
Turkish 5,544 .1% 4.980 .1%
Armenian 5,223 .1% 6,940 .1%
ThaiLaotn 4,608 .1% 3,080 .0%
JamaicanCreole 4,490 .1% 1,080 .0%
Croatian 4,207 .1% 3,440 .0%
Patois 3,902 .1% 660 .0%
IrishGaelic 3,715 .1% 2,920 .0%
Punjabi 3,709 .1%
Czech 3,069 .04% 6,100 .1%
Norwegian 2,361 .03% 5,580 .1%
Tongue, and thus results prior to 1980 are not comparable. But even
in a decade, we can discern some differences in the sociolinguistic
profile of New Yorkers.
From 1980 to 1990 both our multilingualism and our linguistic hetero-
geneity have increased, although not remarkably. The number of New
Yorkers who speak English at home today remains similar to that in
1980. What seems to be different is the origin and racial composition of
those who are LOTE speakers today, and also the way in which language
minorities view themselves. For example, whereas in 1980 all Hindi Re-
lated languages accounted for only .2%, in 1990 Hindi/Urdu alone ac-
counted for .5%, with four more East Indian languages accounting for
.1% each: Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam and Punjabi. Because of greater
linguistic consciousness, in 1990 claimants of Jamaican Creole and Patois
grew by more than four times.
With the exception of Russian, Polish, Rumanian, Albanian and Irish,
the languages of Europe (Italian, Yiddish, Greek, German, Hungarian,
and Serbo-Croatian) show a decline in 1990. In 1980 Italian was the second
most used LOTE at home, but in 1990 Italian moved to third place, with
Chinese becoming the second most used LOTE. Although Spanish, French
and Portuguese have experienced increases, the speakers of these languages
have been, for the most part, Latin Americans, coming from South and
Central America and the islands of the Caribbean, or Africans.
French Creole has experienced great growth, but this is a result of
greater linguistic consciousness among Haitians, claiming now Haitian
Creole rather than French, instead of an actual increase. Beyond Haitian
Creole, the greatest increase has been experienced by Korean, Kru-Ibo-
Yoruba and Vietnamese, tripling in use, followed by Hindi-Urdu, Chi-
nese, Filipino, Arabic, Persian, all doubling in use.
The differences in the sociolinguistic profile of New Yorkers reflect the
heterogeneity of the origin of the LOTE speaking population, increas-
ingly from Asia and the Caribbean. Whereas in 1970, Asian and Pacific
* Source: 1990 and 1980 Census of Population and Housing. Public Use Micro Data Sample.
Only LOTEs that account for over .1% in 1990 or 1980 are here included.
a
For this table we have summed up results that the Census breaks up into three different
categories: In 1990 Chinese (Cantonese, Yueh, Min) had 206,515 claimants, Formosan
(Min Nan) 3,351 claimants, and Mandarin(Honan, Hopei, Pei) 1,581 claimants. In 1980
Chinese (Cantonese, Yue, Yueh, Min) had 111,980 claimants; Formosan (Ch'ao Shan,
Min Nan, Taiwanese) 740 claimants, and Mandarin (Honan, Hopei, Pei) 80 claimants.
b
Includes the category "Hindi Related Languages".
18 Ofelia Garcia
Origin New Yorkers accounted for only 1.0% of the population, in 1980
they represented 3.4%. By 1990 the Asian and Pacific population in New
York represented 6.7% of the population. The Hispanic Origin popula-
tion has also grown, representing 15% in 1970, 19% in 1980, and 24% in
1990.
Throughout the 20th century, bilingualism has been an important part
of the sociolinguistic profile of New Yorkers. Although trend compari-
sons in LOTE Home use are impossible to make, an analysis of the for-
eign bora population of New York throughout the 20th century, given
here as Table 6, confirms New Yorkers' bilingualism.
Table 6
Foreign-born persons as percent of the total population of New York City, 1910-1990*
* Source: A composite of information taken from Bogen (1987) Table 3.1, Youssef (1992)
Table 2.1.
Although 28% of New Yorkers in 1990 were foreign born, this in itself
is nothing new. Indeed, the proportion of foreign born New Yorkers in
1990 is less than that of the first four decades of the 20th century. Except
for the 1970 census, foreign born New Yorkers have always represented
more than one fifth of the population.
Puerto Ricans born in the island are not counted as foreign born since
they're U. S. citizens. One can then argue that the proportion of non-
native New Yorkers in 1950, 1960 and 1970 would have been higher if
the Puerto Rican migration, prevalent during those three decades, would
have been counted. There is thus nothing unusual about New Yorkers at
the end of the 20th century. New York has always been, and continues
to be, a city mostly populated by newly arrived immigrants and migrants,
eager to benefit from the greater economic incentives of a huge metrop-
olis.
World languages and their role in a U. S. city 19
3.2. What is the real difference between today and yesterday? And given
the difference, are there any policy implications for institutions of
higher education?
The big difference between today and the past is not the sociolinguistic
profile of New Yorkers, but the socio-educational changes that have been
brought about by a highly technological society. As recently as 1970,
adult immigrants had few educational and social opportunities. For ex-
ample, it was only the children of immigrants who were welcomed in the
city's public colleges. But the social change brought about through the
greater economic prosperity and the greater social and racial tolerance
of the 1960s opened the doors of institutions of higher education to immi-
grants themselves.
Increased access to colleges and work places meant that the sociolin-
guistic profile of New Yorkers who were now included in institutions and
businesses changed. Yet, institutions of higher education were unable to
make the changes in curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment that would
have been necessary. Students who failed to meet the sociolinguistic ex-
pectation of native English language proficiency were relegated to the
remedial track that was created.
If New Yorkers were serious about educating immigrants, they would
need to teach them in much the same way they educate foreigners in
overseas programs, with native English language proficiency being one
more by-product, and not a pre-requisite, of a college education. Chal-
lenging academic courses would be opened to all, with instructors willing
to contextualize language and to scaffold their instruction to accommo-
date for different English language skills. New York institutions of higher
education might have to model their curriculum, practices, and assess-
ment in what is done in most countries in the world, where higher educa-
tion, especially in the scientific and technological fields, is in English, a
second language for students. Given New York's sociolinguistic profile,
there is no other appropriate educational choice for institutions of higher
education if all New Yorkers are to be educated.
20 Ofelia Garcia
Table 7
Countries of origin of immigrants entering Ellis Island, 1892—1924*
Italy 2,502,310
Austria-Hungary 2,275,852
Russia 1,893,542
Germany 633,148
England 551,969
Ireland 520,904
Sweden 348,036
Greece 245,058
Norway 226,278
OttomanEmpire 212,825
Scotland 191,023
Westlndies 171,774
PolishRepublics 153,444
Portugal 120,725
France 109,687
Denmark 99,414
Roumania 79,092
Netherlands 78,602
Spain 72,636
Belgium 63,141
Czechslovakia 48,140
Bulgaria(1901-31) 42,085
Wales 27,113
Yugoslavia 25,017
Finland 7,833
Switzerland 1,103
Swedes, Swiss, Syrians of New York City, all have a press. The Hindu and
Turkish press have only gone out of existence since the war. There is the
Hebrew press, which represents a class rather than a large group. There
are also language colonies in New York like the Asyrrians, Belgians, Dutch,
Esthonians, Flemish, Norwegians, the Spanish of Catalonia, Uhro-Rus-
sians, Welsh and Wends, which have a press outside the city.
Clearly New York was highly multilingual during this era, although
the government's response to the use of LOTEs in the city for the greater
social, political and economic participation of its citizens, was starting to
change.
York that enhances the importance of New York City in the growing
internationalization of business:
Foreigners, whether immigrants or visitors, feel more at home in New York
than in any other American city. Attracted by its cosmopolitan culture, its
vibrant bustle, its creative tempo, they regard it as more hospitable and
politically stable than metropolitan centers in Europe or Asia (Twentieth
Century Fund 1980: 5).
The multilingualism of New York City gives voice and expression not
only to the tired, the poor and the huddled masses, but also to the busi-
ness executive, the diplomat, the politician, the artist and the intellectual.
Power factors are often inverted in New York City, with wealthy LOTE
speakers being sometimes more powerful than their English-speaking
counterparts. As we saw in section 2, today, as in the past, New Yorkers
are highly multilingual.
As we have seen, New York has done more than tolerated its multilin-
gualism, it has actually promoted it for expediency.12 From early times,
except for a short restrictive period, New York has been conscious of its
need to use LOTEs for its own benefit, sometimes to reap the economic
benefits of selling more, both to the international community and to the
large ethnolinguistic community, sometimes to obtain the social ana polit-
ical benefits of integrating the numerous newcomers as soon as possible
and of participating in the international multilingual community.
Yet, there has always been a difference in the way that private busi-
nesses and public agencies view LOTE use. In private business, a policy
of LOTE promotion is usually followed because doing so increases the
number of potential buyers and participants, and thus profits. In govern-
ment agencies, at best, only a policy of LOTE tolerance has been insti-
tuted. This section explores the city's language policy today, giving in-
stances of LOTE promotion by business and LOTE tolerance by govern-
ment agencies.
those who sell in the city. An example of this flexibility is given by Raquel
Rivera, a Puerto Rican woman, who recollects how Spanish was used by
Jewish merchants in East Harlem: "In the 20s and 30s the Marqueta was
almost all Jewish. What happened was the Jews began to sell Puerto
Rican products like platanos and other items. Everyone communicated
very well.... The Jewish vendors always knew a few words in Span-
ish..." (Quoted in Sänchez-Korrol 1983: 56).
The use of LOTEs in order to sell in New York City has been a preva-
lent strategy throughout history in every single business domain. Speak-
ing of the Bronx Hunts Point Market, a supplier of figs says:
When I first came into this business and that was before the war - to do
business here you had to know Jewish phrases. Then, some years later, you
had to pick up a few Italian words to make it. Now I'm trying for all the
Korean words I can (New York Times, February 18, 1976, quoted in Kim
1981: 3).
Today, businesses in New York, whether international or domestic, have
a policy of LOTE promotion, with LOTEs being used to capture the pock-
etbooks, as well as the hearts, of those with purchasing and investment
power. For example, the AT & T Language Line, a twenty-four hour toll-
free telephone service that gives access to interpreters in one hundred and
forty languages, is used not only by public New York City agencies, but
also by many hotels, banks, airlines, law offices, utilities, and Fortune
500 businesses, as Table 8 indicates. LOTEs are used not only with clients
or customers who speak little English, but in an effort to communicate
better with and to sell more to those who may be bilingual.
Con Edison, New York's utility company, acknowledges LOTEs as
tools to provide better services to their customers. Bills are printed in
Spanish, and Spanish Call Centers have been created where customers
can speak to a Spanish speaking representative. Con Edison field person-
nel now have access to a guide that provides translation into ten lan-
guages of customers: Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Korean, Polish,
Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese and Yiddish. Likewise, NYNEX, the tele-
phone company, has established a Multilingual Center with approxi-
mately two hundred and twenty-five Spanish speaking and forty Chinese
speaking representatives in order to remain competitive.
Today LOTEs are also widely used not only in the press, but also in
TV and radio programming in New York City. This LOTE use benefits
not only the LOTE speaking community, but New Yorkers in general.
Information about the United States and the world is provided, allowing
LOTE speakers to be knowledgeable participants in U. S. society. Also,
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
"Minä en pyydä teitä vähentämään luetteloa. Kuunnelkaa vielä.
Luettelossanne on erään italialaisen naisen nimi, jonka nuoruus,
kauneus ja puhtaus sekä vapaus kaikista rikoksista ja kaikista
sopivista syytöksistäkin, tulee ainoastaan herättämään sääliä eikä
hirmua. Tekin tulisitte vapisemaan, jos julistaisitte hänen tuomionsa.
Se olisi vaarallista sellaisena päivänä, kun rahvas on kiihdyksissään.
Teidän vankirattaanne voidaan pysäyttää, jos nuoruus ja viattomuus
ja kauneus tulee kapinoivan joukon säälin alaiseksi."
"Se muuttaa asian", sanoi Dumas kiihkeästi, "jos voit tämän tehdä,
niin omalla vastuullani minä lykkään toistaiseksi italialaisen naisen
tutkimuksen. Sano nyt, kuka on sijainen!"
"En ole pyytänytkään muuta kuin yhtä päivää, lopun jätän taivaan
oikeuden huomaan. Teidän saattajanne odottavat alhaalla."
XVI LUKU.
Kassandra.
Viola tuskin enää käsitti, miksikä hän oli tullut otetuksi kodistaan ja
yksitoikkoisen koneellisen työnsä äärestä. Hän tuskin tiesi, mitä
tarkottivat ne hyvänsuopaiset joukot, jotka hänen ihmeellisestä
kauneudestaan liikutettuina kokoontuivat hänen ympärilleen
vankilassa, murheellisen näköisinä mutta lohdutusta puhuvina. Viola
oli tähän asti ollut tottunut kauhistumaan niitä, joita Laki tuomitsee
rikoksesta, mutta nyt hän ihmeekseen sai tietää, että näin hyvät ja
sääliväiset olennot, jotka näyttivät niin yleviltä ja puhtailta, niin
jaloilta ja ylhäisiltä, olivatkin sellaisia rikollisia, joille Laki ei voinut
antaa lievempää rangaistusta kuin kuoleman. Mutta nuo raa'at,
likaiset ja röyhkeät miehet taas, jotka olivat hänet kodistaan
riistäneet ja yrittäneet häneltä ryöstää lapsenkin, jonka hän puristi
rintaansa vastaan, ja jotka ilkeästi olivat nauraneet hänelle vasten
silmiä, kun hän vaieten ja värisevin huulin heitä katseli — ne
olivatkin oikeita kansalaisia, hyveellisiä, hallituksen suosikkeja, Lain
toimeenpanijoita! Sellaiset ovat sinun oikkusi, sinä aina-vaihteleva
inhimillinen oikeus.
"Minä en tiedä."
"Ah, jollet tunne rikoksiasi, niin voit pelätä pahinta."
*****
"Ja jos en saa enää häntä nähdä, Isä, niin etkö sinä voi antaa
rakkauteni, joka ei tule kuolemaan, vielä haudankin tuolta puolen
johtaa hänen maallista kohtaloaan? Etkö sinä voi sallia minun
elävänä henkenä liidellä hänen ympärillään? Oi, vaikka minkälainen
kohtalo mahtaisi olla suotuna meille kummallekin — vaikka tuhannen
vuottakin väliltämme vierisi — niin salli, kun me viimein
puhdistuneina ja uudestisyntyneinä olemme valmiit siihen — salli
meidän silloin viimein tavata toisemme. Ja hänen lapsensa — se
rukoilee sinua vankilan lattialta. Huomenna se tulee nukkumaan —
kenen helmassa? kuka tulee sitä syöttämään, kenen huulet tulevat
rukoilemaan sen maallisen menestyksen ja sen sielun pelastuksen
puolesta?" Hän pysähtyi ja hänen äänensä tukehtui nyyhkytyksiin.
"Sinä Viola, sinä itse. Hän, jonka sinä olet hylännyt, on täällä
pelastamassa äitiä lapselleen."
"Katso ylös, katso ylös, minä olen täällä — minä olen täällä,
pelastaakseni sinut. Tahdotko kieltää minua näkemästä suloisia
kasvojasi? Sinä velvollisuutesi jättänyt, vieläkö minua pakenet?"
*****
Ja Viola nukkui niin suloisesti. Uupuneena iloon, turvallisena kun
sai olla takaisintulleen puolisonsa silmien läheisyydessä, oli hän
nauranut ja itkenyt itsensä nukuksiin, ja vielä tässä unessa näytti
säilyvän onnellinen tietoisuus siitä, että rakastettu oli läsnä,
kadonnut oli löydetty. Hän hymyili ja soperteli itsekseen unessaan ja
mainitsi usein Zanonin nimen, ojensi käsiään ja huokasi, jollei hän
niillä tavannut puolisoaan. Zanoni katseli häntä syrjässä seisoen —
millä tunteilla, olisi turha kuvailla. Viola ei tulisi herätessään enää
puolisoaan näkemään — hän ei voinut aavistaa, kuinka kalliisti
pelastuksensa oli maksettu. Se aamu, jota hän niin oli ikävöinyt, oli
nyt tullut. Kuinka tulisi hän sen iltaa tervehtimään? Violan silmät
olivat ummistuneet niihin kultaisiin toiveihin, joilla nuoruus ja
kauneus tulevaisuutta katselevat. Yhä vielä nämä toiveet antoivat
sateenkaari-loistoansa hänen unelmiinsa. Hän saa herätä elämään.
Huomenna on hirmuhallitus loppunut — vankilan ovet avautuvat —
Viola astuu ulos lapsensa kanssa iloiseen suvimaailmaan. Ja hän,
Zanoni — hän kääntyi ja katsahti lapseen, se oli hereillään ja sen
kirkas, vakava, miettivä katse seurasi isää lujana ja juhlallisena. Hän
kumartui sen yli ja suuteli sen huulia.
*****
Tyynenä kuin itse epätoivo seisoo ankara St. Just, Couthon ryömii
ähkien pöydän alle, nyt laukaus, räjähdys! Robespierre olisi tahtonut
itse päättää päivänsä. Vapiseva käsi on pettänyt eikä hän ole
kuollutkaan. Hôtel de Villen kello lyö kolme. Rikottujen ovien läpi,
pimeitten käytävien läpi kuolinsaliin syöksee ihmisjoukko.
Raadeltuna, kalmankalpeana, verisenä, sanattomana, mutta vielä
tajuisena istuu päätappaja vielä pystyssä tuolissaan. Hänen
ympärilleen he keräytyvät, he uhkaavat, he kiroovat häntä, heidän
kasvonsa hehkuvat soihtujen valossa. Hän on oikea musta velho eikä
tähtöinen maagikko! Ja hänen viimeisiä hetkiään näkemään
kokoontuvat ne pahat henget, jotka hän on kutsunut esiin. He
vetävät hänet esiin. Aukaise porttisi, säälimätön vankila! Ei
sanaakaan enää tässä maailmassa lausunut Maximilien Robespierre.
Lähetä esiin tuhansia ja satoja tuhansia, vapautunut Pariisi.
Vallankumoustorille vyöryvät hirmuhallituksen rattaat — St. Just,
Dumas, Couthon, kumppanit seuraavat häntä, hautaan asti. Nainen,
jolta lapset on viety, hiukset hajallaan päässään, juoksee hänen
sivullaan: "Sinun kuolemasi saattaa minut ilosta juopuneeksi."
Robespierre avaa veristyneet silmänsä. "Mene tuonelaan vaimojen ja
äitien kirousten seuraamana."
*****
"Lapsi raukka", sanoo eräs nainen, joka itse on äiti, "eilen sinun
isäsi kuuluu kaatuneen, ja nyt äitikin! Yksinäinen maailmassa, mikä
mahtaakaan kohtalosi olla?"
Viiteselitykset:
Tekijän muist.
Suom. muist.
[24] Hoode megas keitai Zan = "Tässä lepää suuri Zeus" (Huom.!
genetiv. Zeen'os l. Zan'os. Suom.)
[26] Sextus.
[29] Genius — oli haltija eli henki, joka vanhojen kansojen uskon
mukaan hallitsi eri paikkoja ja esineitä. Ennen kaikkia oli joka
ihmisellä syntymästä asti Genius, joka määräsi hänen kohtalonsa ja
jonka ääntä hän saattoi oppia kuuntelemaan. Kristityt kutsuivat tätä
Geniusta suojelusenkeliksi, nykyaikaiset teosofit sanovat sitä
maallisen personallisuuden "korkeammaksi minäksi." Siitä sanasta on
tullut sivistyssana genius, genie, geni, nerokkuus, inspiratsioni ja itse
nero. Tämä sana antaa paljon ajattelemisen aihetta.
Vertauskuvallisen tarun mukaan Genius syntyi Eroksen ja Psykeen —
rakkauden ja sielun — yhtymästä. — Suom.
[30] Ranskan kuninkaan, jota vallankumoukselliset kutsuivat
"mieheksi." — Suom.
[46] "On yhtä välttämätöntä tuntea pahat asiat kuin hyvätkin, sillä
kuka voi tietää mikä on hyvä, tietämättä mikä on paha?" j.n.e.
Paracelsus, De Natura Rerum, lib. 3.
[47] Nimittäin niillä mailla. Itämaat olivat tähän aikaan hyvin
vähän tunnetut. Suom.