Home to one of the largest cities on the planet, New York state has tens of millions of people living in it. Naturally, the state is home to many immigrants and foreign language speakers, with the languages of New York being as diverse as the languages of any Western country!

Making up 1.24% of the US’s land mass and 6.25% of its population, it is New York that makes up a large portion of the linguistic diversity of the US.

Official Language of New York

English

Immigrant Languages of New York

Spanish

Chinese

Russian

French

Yiddish

Polish

Bengali

Cultural Languages of New York

Dutch

Before the English arrived in New York in 1664, the modern-day New York state was colonized by the Dutch, who called it New Netherland (Dutch: Nieuw Nederland). The capital of the colony was New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam), now known as New York City.

A merchant colony, New Netherland was home to hundreds of Dutch-speaking colonists who traded with the Native Americans and send goods such as furs back to Europe where they were sold at a huge markup.

Owned by the Dutch East India Company and staffed almost entirely by Dutch

German

Fleeing religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, the first Germans arrived in Upstate New York in the 1680’s

Irish

What do you think about the languages of New York? Do you speak any of them (besides English)? Tell me in the comments!