"Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact with and influence each other."
The study of how languages interact and change when they come into contact, including language borrowing, creolization, and pidginization.
Linguistic Borrowing: This is the process of borrowing words, phrases, syntax and grammar from one language to another. It happens during language contact due to borrowings of words from one language by the speakers of another language.
Pidgin, Creole, and Mixed Languages: A pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a shared language. A creole is an expanded version of a pidgin language that becomes the native language of a group of speakers. While a mixed language is a language that combines elements of two or more languages.
Code-Switching: This is the act of alternating between two or more languages or dialects in a single conversation or communication. It is very common in multilingual societies.
Linguistic Hybridity: Linguistic hybridity is the creation of new languages and language varieties as a result of language contact. This is the result of the merging of two or more languages.
Linguistic Convergence and Divergence: Linguistic convergence is the process of two or more distinct languages becoming more like one another due to contact. While linguistic divergence is the process of languages becoming more different from each other due to language contact over time.
Multilingualism: This is the ability of individuals or communities to communicate in more than one language. Multilingualism is common in areas with language contact.
Language Death and Revitalization: Language death is when a language ceases to be spoken by its community, while language revitalization is an attempt to revive a dying language.
Sociolinguistics: This is the study of how language is used in different social contexts, including language use and language contact in multilingual societies.
Language Contact and Identity: Language contact has been shown to have a significant impact on individual and collective identity in multilingual societies.
Historical Linguistics: Historical linguistics studies the evolution of languages over time and how language contact has influenced the development of different language families and language dispersals.
Borrowing: When a language adopts words or phrases from another language.
Code-switching: The practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties in a single conversation or sentence.
Code-mixing: The use of elements from two or more languages in a single sentence or utterance.
Convergence: The process of two or more languages coming closer together in terms of linguistic structure and use.
Divergence: The process of two or more languages becoming more different from each other in terms of linguistic structure and use.
Pidginization: The creation of a simplified language that emerges as a means of communication between people who do not share a common language.
Creolization: The process by which a pidgin language becomes a fully developed language with native speakers.
Language shift: The process by which speakers of one language shift to speaking another language, often as a result of political, social, or economic factors.
Language death: The point at which a language is no longer spoken or used by any living speakers.
Language revitalization: The process of reviving a language that is in danger of being lost or has fewer and fewer speakers over time.
"The study of language contact is called contact linguistics."
"When speakers of different languages interact closely, it is typical for their languages to influence each other."
"Language contact can occur at language borders, between adstratum languages, or as the result of migration, with an intrusive language acting as either a superstratum or a substratum."
"Language contact occurs in a variety of phenomena, including language convergence, borrowing, and relexification."
"The common products include pidgins, creoles, code-switching, and mixed languages."
"In many other cases, contact between speakers occurs but the lasting effects on the language are less visible."
"They may, however, include loan words, calques, or other types of borrowed material."
"Multilingualism has been common throughout much of human history."
"Today, most people in the world are multilingual."
"Methods from sociolinguistics (the study of language use in society), from corpus linguistics, and from formal linguistics are used in the study of language contact."
"Language contact can occur at language borders, between adstratum languages..."
"...or as the result of migration, with an intrusive language acting as either a superstratum or a substratum."
"Language contact occurs in a variety of phenomena, including language convergence..."
"Language contact occurs in a variety of phenomena, including borrowing..."
"The common products include pidgins, creoles..."
"The common products include...code-switching..."
"The common products include...mixed languages."
"Methods from sociolinguistics, from corpus linguistics, and from formal linguistics are used in the study of language contact."
"...they may include loan words, calques, or other types of borrowed material."