Superstratum

Translations

superstrato | superstrat | Superstrat

Article

In multilingual environment, a superstratum language is the prestigious code that undergoes influence from the less prestigious substratum. The bilingual situation could be continuous for many generations (e.g. English in India) or could shortly led to an elimination of the language A (e.g. imposition of Latin in Romance Europe). Finally, the superstrate can be a written or literary variety, no spoken anymore (e.g. classical Latin in Medieval Europe). In the context of ancient language contact, superstratum language is more likely the one that survives in written form as the main language of texts, occasionally exhibiting evidence of substratum interference.

Example

See substratum.