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Dynamics of Language Contact

Dynamics of Language Contact

Dynamics of Language Contact

English and Immigrant Languages
Michael Clyne, University of Melbourne
April 2003
Available
Paperback
9780521786485
$58.00
USD
Paperback
USD
eBook

    The past decade has seen an unprecedented growth in the study of language contact, associated partly with the linguistic effects of globalization and increased migration all over the world. Written by a leading expert in the field, this much-needed account brings together disparate findings to examine the dynamics of contact between languages in an immigrant context. Using data from a wide range of languages, including German, Dutch, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Croatian and Vietnamese, Michael Clyne discusses the dynamics of their contact with English. Clyne analyzes how and why these languages change in an immigration country like Australia, and asks why some languages survive longer than others. The book contains useful comparisons between immigrant vintages, generations, and between bilinguals and trilinguals. An outstanding contribution to the study of language contact, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in linguistics, bilingualism, the sociology of language and education.

    • Combines linguistic, sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic dimensions
    • Deals comparatively with typologically different languages in contact with the same language in bi- and trilinguals in the same country
    • Deals comparatively with languages of different communities shifting at different rates to the same language in the same country

    Reviews & endorsements

    "This fascinating and rewarding volume is exactly the kind of book on language contact that one would expect Michael Clyne to write."
    -Anthony P. Grant, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk, United Kingdom, Anthropological Linguistics

    "Clyne's discussion of various models and his terminological framework is an excellent introduction to the study of language contact. The tables throughout the book provide helpful summaries of the data."
    -Mary Ruth Wise, SIL International

    See more reviews

    Product details

    April 2003
    Paperback
    9780521786485
    300 pages
    228 × 151 × 17 mm
    0.455kg
    3 b/w illus. 1 map 35 tables
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • List of map and figures
    • List of tables
    • Series editor's foreword
    • Acknowledgements
    • List of abbreviations
    • 1. Introduction
    • 2. Dynamics of language shift
    • 3. On models and terms
    • 4. Dynamics of convergence and transference
    • 5. Dynamics of transversion
    • 6. Dynamics of plurilingual processing
    • 7. Dynamics of cultural values in contact discourse
    • 8. Towards a synthesis
    • Notes
    • References
    • Index of authors
    • Index of languages
    • Index of subjects.
      Author
    • Michael Clyne , University of Melbourne

      Michael Clyne is Professorial Fellow in Linguistics and Director of the Research Unit for Multilingualism and Cross-Cultural Communication at the University of Melbourne. His books include Language and Society in German-Speaking Countries (Cambridge, 1984), Community Languages: the Australian Experience (Cambridge, 1991), Pluricentric Languages (1992), The German Language in a Changing Europe (Cambridge, 1995), and Intercultural Communication at Work (Cambridge, 1995).