Difference between revisions of "Language contact"
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==Article== | ==Article== | ||
| − | By language contact, we indicate any situation in which two linguistic codes are in contact with each other, resulting in the [[borrowing|exchange]] of structural or lexical materials and in [[changes]] in one or more of the languages involved. | + | <p>By language contact, we indicate any situation in which two linguistic codes are in contact with each other, resulting in the [[borrowing|exchange]] of structural or lexical materials and in [[changes]] in one or more of the languages involved. |
| − | When giving such a general definition, it is impossible to sketch a complete history of the studies. In general, observations on contact go back to the 19th century world of philology and historical linguistics, e.g. with the introduction of the concept of [[substratum]] by Ascoli. In the first half of the 20th century, observations of contact phenomena continued, resulting, in 1953, in the publication of the first comprehensive treatment by Weinreich (1953). Weinreich's work highlighted important situations of contact in the modern world, and triggered increasingly fine-grained theoretical frameworks, culminating in the work by Thomason and Kaufman (1988). A more comprehensive and extensive overview on the history of the studies on language contact (and on related problems such as [[mixed-languages|mixed-language]] or [areality|ancient linguistic area]) is offered by Matras (2009). | + | When giving such a general definition, it is impossible to sketch a complete history of the studies. In general, observations on contact go back to the 19th century world of philology and historical linguistics, e.g. with the introduction of the concept of [[substratum]] by Ascoli. In the first half of the 20th century, observations of contact phenomena continued, resulting, in 1953, in the publication of the first comprehensive treatment by Weinreich (1953). Weinreich's work highlighted important situations of contact in the modern world, and triggered increasingly fine-grained theoretical frameworks, culminating in the work by Thomason and Kaufman (1988). A more comprehensive and extensive overview on the history of the studies on language contact (and on related problems such as [[mixed-languages|mixed-language]] or [areality|ancient linguistic area]) is offered by Matras (2009).<p></p> |
| + | When dealing with ancient corpus-languages, the identification of contact phenomena depends on the recognition of its effect in writing, with the following methodological steps: | ||
| + | |||
| + | # identification of [[standard language]] | ||
| + | # identification of patterns that do not belong to the standard language | ||
| + | # recognition of patterns that may derive from [[monogenetic change]] and identification of the possible [[model language]] | ||
| + | # disambiguation between different levels and types of contact: | ||
| + | ## [[document-level phenomena]] that do not necessarily reflect real change in the language: | ||
| + | ### translation-based interference in [[multilingual documents|multilingual document]] | ||
| + | ### [[epigraphic contact]] affecting scribal habits and conventions | ||
| + | ## phenomena that may indicate real contact-induced change: | ||
| + | ### [[lexical interference]] between languages from neighboring areas | ||
| + | ### [[lexical interference]] in multilingual areas with [[substratum]]-[[superstratum]] systems | ||
| + | ### [[structural interference]] systemically affecting one or more languages in an area | ||
| + | # verification of the hypotheses of contact basing on the historical and geo-cultural information we receive from neighboring disciplines (history, philology, archaeology) | ||
==Example== | ==Example== | ||
Revision as of 12:32, 20 January 2021
Contents
Translations
contatto linguistico | contact linguistique | Sprachkontakt
Article
By language contact, we indicate any situation in which two linguistic codes are in contact with each other, resulting in the exchange of structural or lexical materials and in changes in one or more of the languages involved. When giving such a general definition, it is impossible to sketch a complete history of the studies. In general, observations on contact go back to the 19th century world of philology and historical linguistics, e.g. with the introduction of the concept of substratum by Ascoli. In the first half of the 20th century, observations of contact phenomena continued, resulting, in 1953, in the publication of the first comprehensive treatment by Weinreich (1953). Weinreich's work highlighted important situations of contact in the modern world, and triggered increasingly fine-grained theoretical frameworks, culminating in the work by Thomason and Kaufman (1988). A more comprehensive and extensive overview on the history of the studies on language contact (and on related problems such as mixed-language or [areality|ancient linguistic area]) is offered by Matras (2009).
When dealing with ancient corpus-languages, the identification of contact phenomena depends on the recognition of its effect in writing, with the following methodological steps:
- identification of standard language
- identification of patterns that do not belong to the standard language
- recognition of patterns that may derive from monogenetic change and identification of the possible model language
- disambiguation between different levels and types of contact:
- document-level phenomena that do not necessarily reflect real change in the language:
- translation-based interference in multilingual document
- epigraphic contact affecting scribal habits and conventions
- phenomena that may indicate real contact-induced change:
- lexical interference between languages from neighboring areas
- lexical interference in multilingual areas with substratum-superstratum systems
- structural interference systemically affecting one or more languages in an area
- document-level phenomena that do not necessarily reflect real change in the language:
- verification of the hypotheses of contact basing on the historical and geo-cultural information we receive from neighboring disciplines (history, philology, archaeology)
Example
...
References
Matras, Y. 2009. Language contact, Cambridge. Thomason, S. and Kaufman, T. 1988. Language contact, creolization and genetic linguistics, Berkeley. Weinreich, U. 1953. Language contact, finding an problems, New York.
