The National Museum of Language, located in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known a ...

, is a cultural institution established in 1997 to "examine the history, impact, and art of language," and remains one of only a handful of institutions designed for this purpose. The museum opened officially on May 3, 2008, in College Park, MD, with an exhibition entitled "Writing Language: Passing It On." In 2014, the museum closed its physical facility and became a

virtual museum A virtual museum is a digital entity that draws on the characteristics of a museum, in order to complement, enhance, or augment the museum experience through personalization, interactivity, and richness of content. Virtual museums can perform as t ...

. At present, it is focusing on outreach activities and virtual exhibits. Its outreach includes a speaker series (the Amelia C. Murdoch Speaker Series) and a summer World Languages camp for children. Among its current (2018) online features are a Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) virtual exhibit, the Greek language

Philogelos ''Philogelos'' ( grc, Φιλόγελως, "Love of Laughter") is the oldest existing collection of jokes. The collection is written in Ancient Greek, and the language used indicates that it may have been written in the fourth century AD, according ...

comic strip, regular interviews with linguistic newsmakers and a bimonthly newsletter. The NML owns the world's only International Flag of Language, the result of a contest sponsored by the museum in 2008. The three shades of green on the flag represent past, present, and future languages. The museum is almost entirely run and staffed by volunteers.

History

The idea for a national language museum dates to 1971, when linguists at the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

put on an exhibition called "Language, Its Infinite Variety." However the idea of a language museum did not gain hold until 1985, when the linguists from the NSA exhibition met again to discuss the possibility. The linguists were unable to establish exhibits at that time, but an organizing committee was formed and a board of directors were elected in 1997. Prior to opening to the public, the museum did have a presence with a newsletter, annual dinner and occasional programs, e.g. "

Creole Languages A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. Wh ...

as Misunderstood and

Endangered Languages 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 langu ...

” symposium in 2007. NML opened officially on May 3, 2008, with an exhibition entitled ‘‘Writing Language: Passing It On,” which traced the roots of early alphabet languages, such as

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, and featured as well character-based

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Another noted exhibit which followed was "Emerging American Language in 1812", which explained influences on the development of

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

as a separate entity from

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

, and included a display about the contributions of

Noah Webster Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

, the "First American Lexicographer." Other smaller exhibits focused on Native American,

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

, and North American French. In 2011, it displayed Bibles and liturgical manuscripts on loan from the Alphabet Museum in

Waxhaw, North Carolina Waxhaw is a town in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,534 according to the 2020 Census. The population grew 108.28% from 2010. The name is derived from the indigenous people who lived in the area, who were known a ...

. The museum housed the

Allen Walker Read Allen Walker Read (June 2, 1906 – October 16, 2002) was an American etymologist and lexicographer. Born in Minnesota, he spent much of his career as a professor at Columbia University in New York. Read's work ''Classic American Graffiti'' is we ...

Library (collection of books from a noted American etymologist and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

) as well as the Ann Kietzman collection of international children's books in foreign languages. The museum also taught classes on occasion. Among its programs were the creation of a speaker's series (renamed the Amelia C. Murdoch Speaker Series after the NML founder), which featured experts in various areas related to language use and history. The Museum also offered grade school programs, and ran a summer language camp. When the museum went virtual, it maintained the speaker series and the summer camp. It still maintains its book collections and displays its flag at museum events.

Funding

The NML is operated by a largely all-volunteer staff. The majority of its funding comes from donations, membership fees, and occasional government grants.

References

External links

National Museum of Language

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{{authority control Museums in Prince George's County, Maryland Museums established in 2008 Literary museums in the United States Society museums in the United States College Park, Maryland 2008 establishments in Maryland Language museums Virtual museums