Linguistic Contact and Language Change: An Introduction

Linguistic contact is a reality of everyday life, as speakers of different languages come into contact with one another, often causing language change. This undergraduate textbook provides a means by which these processes, both modern and historical, can be analysed, based on cutting-edge theoretical and methodological practices. Chapters cover language death, the development of pidgins and creoles, linguistic convergence and language contact, and new variety formation. Each chapter is subdivided into key themes, which are supported by diverse and real-world case studies. Student learning is bolstered by illustrative maps, exercises, research tasks, further reading suggestions, and a glossary. Ancillary resources are available including additional exercises and research tasks, further discussion of central arguments, and recordings of many of the language varieties covered. Written primarily for undergraduate students of linguistics, it provides a balanced, historically grounded, and up-to-date introduction to linguistic contact and language change.