Ross Perlin (born 1982 or 1983) is an American linguist and co-director of the

Endangered Language Alliance The Endangered Language Alliance (ELA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2010 to document the least-known languages in the New York metropolitan area. As reported by '' Language Magazine'', "The ELA's methodology relies on longstanding colla ...

. He has made significant contributions to th
Languages of New York City map

Early life and education

Perlin is a descendent of Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants and a fourth-generation New Yorker. He grew up in Manhattan, moving away from the city at age 15. Perlin has a BA from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, an M.Phil. from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, an MA from the University of London (SOAS), and a PhD in Linguistics from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

. During his studies, he lived in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

for six months, where he focused on learning Chinese. For his PhD, he worked in southwest China with a Trung-speaking community, producing "a trilingual dictionary, a corpus of recordings, and a descriptive grammar".

Career

As part of his linguistics PhD, Perlin studied and published a dictionary for Trung, a language spoken in the eastern Himalayas. Perlin researched the languages of the Pamir region of

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

for National Geographic. By 2012, Perlin was working with the as an assistant director for

and as the leader of the organization's Jewish languages project. He is a lecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Writing

Perlin contributed to the English translation of ''Bullets and Opium: Real-Life Stories of China After the Tiananmen Square Massacre'' (2020) by

Liao Yiwu Liao Yiwu ( zh, c=廖亦武 , p=Liào Yìwǔ; also known as Lao Wei ( zh, 老威); born 16 June 1958) is a Chinese author, reporter, musician, and poet. He is a critic of Communist Party of China, China's Communist Party, for which he was impri ...

and

Chen Guangcheng Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently describ ...

's ''The Barefoot Lawyer'' (2015). In 2024, Perlin published ''Language City'', an exploration of the least-known languages in New York City. In this, he places a focus on trauma as the source for linguistic diversity in New York, especially that of immigrants fleeing persecution, violence, and famine. An excerpt from the book was published in

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

, highlighting the likelihood that many

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead langua ...

s will die out in the near future. He wrote, "Threats to immigration and immigrant lives, language loss in the homelands, and the gentrification of cities appear to be accelerating the cycle. Some journalists have speculated that a New York Times article highlighting Perlin's work may have inspired an anti-immigrant comment by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Personal life

Perlin moved back to New York City in 2011, and lives in

Ridgewood, Queens Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth to the north, Middle Village to the east, and Glendale to the southeast, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick to ...

as of 2024. He married his wife, Cecil, in 2024. He is Jewish.

Publications

Books

*''Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy'' (Verso Books, 2012) *''Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York'' (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024)

Chapters

Articles

* * * *

Honors and awards

* Forward 50 (2012), ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' * New York Jewish Week's 36 to Watch (2024) * 2024

British Academy Book Prize The British Academy Book Prize was an annual book award held by the British Academy in the period from 2000 and 2005. Eligible titles were those covering areas of the humanities and social sciences. Winners * 2001 Rees Davies for ''The First Engl ...

, for ''Language City''

References

External links

Official website
* *Languages of New York City map {{DEFAULTSORT:Perlin, Ross Living people 1980s births Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Alumni of SOAS University of London Alumni of the University of Cambridge Jewish American academics Jewish linguists Linguists from the United States Non-profit executives People from Ridgewood, Queens Stanford University alumni University of Bern alumni Writers from Manhattan Writers from Queens, New York