Language Contact: An Introduction Sarah G. Thomason is an English-language textbook that highlights the social, political, and linguistic effects of language contact. This reference work focuses on what happens to the languages themselves when they come into contact with one another.
The book addresses various outcomes of language contact: sometimes languages remain unchanged, sometimes new words emerge, and sometimes new sounds and sentence structures spread across multiple languages over a large area. In addition, developments such as the emergence of pidgins and creoles, multilingualism, language loss, and language death are also covered. With insightful case studies and worldwide examples, Thomason provides a thorough overview of the mechanisms and consequences of contact-induced language change.
Key features:
• Written in an accessible style by a leading expert
• Sources and suggestions for further reading per chapter
• Includes a world map with locations of the languages discussed
The book is thematically aligned with topics such as dialects, jargon, and general linguistics, and is suitable for students in higher education and academic researchers in linguistics.