Four centuries ago, what had been a Lenape-speaking archipelago suddenly became New Amsterdam—a crossroads of Native American, European, and African cultures. Here, 18 languages were reported as being spoken within the first few decades, and the number is likely far greater. Join Ross Perlin, author of the new book Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, and Russell Shorto as they trace this history of language and how it set the template for the city’s extraordinary transformation into one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world.

Ross Perlin is the author of Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, out this February from Grove. He is co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance and teaches linguistics at Columbia.