“On the National Language” is an essential book for anyone concerned about the loss of linguistic and cultural diversity. It documents disappearing languages through personal stories and historical context, showing how much is at stake when a language dies. What makes it compelling is how it moves beyond statistics, focusing on the lived experiences of the last speakers and the communities fighting to preserve their heritage. It is a poetic and moving reminder that preserving language is preserving human culture itself.

This book is magnificent at introducing readers to the various endangered languages present here in the United States. Languages are made of words (yes), but they may be made of people more. The book guides us through the extremes of the landscape: There are languages with thousands of speakers and languages that already died out, yet are being resusitated by dedicated individuals. There are languages only spoken by elders and languages with their first young speakers in generations. Each language is handled with reverence, paired with a phrase and with a portrait. The portraits are of the individuals who are continuing to speak. The phrases on the opposite page are chosen by them. And their portraits are in conversation with these chosen words. The result? Visual poetry! And let’s not forget: there are verbal poems included throughout, too. There is just so much to savor, here. And the hope that results is tangible. I am in awe of these people who are keeping their languages alive. I am in awe of how rich in culture and history and perspective a language could be. And I am in awe, because this book only focused on the States! This is but a peek into a vast world. What other languages and stories are out there?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher!

This is an important book that is long overdue, but also just a beautiful book that anyone can enjoy leafing through and learning along the way. It is shocking how many languages used to exist that have already gone extinct. So many more are incredibly endangered, with only a handful of native speakers still alive. We forget that language has not always been monolithic the way it is for many people today. This book documents many of the endangered indigenous languages in a format that is engaging and emotional.

For each language, we are given the area(s), a brief explanation of the language and what is being done to preserve it (particularly if there are any education programs or efforts being made in the local community to resuscitate use of the language), and a single word in the language with the translation in English. On the opposite page we're treated to a photo of someone (or in a few cases, multiple people) who represent that language in some way. What's really beautiful is how the images not only capture the essence of that person and the language, but especially how the word is intentionally chosen to draw a deeper connection with the story being told in the photo. There's a lot going on in each spread, and it invites you to sit with each individual word and experience how it exists in that photo and in the world around us.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review. This review will be cross-posted to my social media accounts closer to the book release date.

This book has so many potential audiences. As someone fascinated by languages and their evolution, this book is an important record of different rare languages. There are gorgeous photos of individuals who speak these rare languages, making this a great gift and/or coffee table book. It was so interesting reading about all these rare languages, most of which I'd never heard of before. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this