Language convergence: Difference between revisions
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'''Language convergence''' is a type of linguistic change in which languages come to structurally resemble one another as a result of prolonged language contact and mutual interference.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Historical Linguistics|last=Crowley|first=Terry|last2=Bowern|first2=Claire|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=0195365542|location=New York|pages=269-272}}</ref> In contrast to other contact-induced language changes like [[creolization]] or the formation of [[Mixed language|mixed languages,]] convergence refers to a mutual process that results in changes in all the languages involved.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Language Contact: An Introduction|last=Thomason|first=Sarah|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2001|isbn=0748607196|location=Edinburgh|pages=89-90, 152}}</ref> Linguists use the term to describe changes in the linguistic patterns of the languages in contact rather than alterations of isolated lexical items.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Handbook of Language Contact|last=|first=|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2010|isbn=1444318160|editor-last=Hickey|editor-first=Raymond|location=Malden, MA|pages=19, 68-9, 76, 285-87}}</ref> |
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'''Language convergence''' is a type of [[language contact]]-induced change whereby languages with many [[bilingual]] speakers mutually borrow [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] and [[Syntax|syntactic]] features, making their [[Linguistic typology|typology]] more similar. |
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=== '''Contexts''' === |
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A presently occurring example of this is with the [[Maltese language]], where almost all the population of [[Malta]] is bilingual in Maltese and [[English language|English]], and often mix the two languages in speech. In addition to this, 66% of the population speaks [[Italian language|Italian]], and the language is also continuing to influence Maltese. |
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Language convergence occurs in geographic areas with two or more unrelated languages in contact, resulting in groups of languages with similar linguistic features that were not inherited from each language's [[proto-language]].<ref name=":0" /> These geographic and linguistic groups are called linguistic areas, or [[Sprachbund]] areas.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Contact Linguistics|last=Winford|first=Donald|publisher=Blackwell|year=2003|isbn=0631212515|location=Malden, MA|pages=65, 70-78}}</ref> Linguistic features shared by the languages in a language area as a result of language convergence are called areal features.<ref name=":0" /> In situations with many languages in contact and a variety of areal features, linguists may use the term language convergence to indicate the impossibility of locating a singular source for each areal feature.<ref name=":1" /> However, as the classification of linguistic areas and language convergence depends on shared areal features, linguists must distinguish between areal features resulting from convergence and internally motivated changes resulting in chance similarities between languages.<ref name=":4">Appel, René; Pieter Muysken (1987). “Language Contact and Language Change,” In ''Language Contact and Bilingualism.'' New York: Edward Arnold. pp. 153-163.</ref> |
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=== '''Mechanisms''' === |
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Language convergence occurs primarily through diffusion, the spread of a feature from one language to another.<ref name=":0" /> The causes of language convergence are highly dependent on the specifics of the contact between the languages involved. Often, convergence is motivated by bilingual [[code-switching]] or code-alternation.<ref name=":1" /> Seeking full expressive capacity in both languages, bilingual speakers identify preexisting parallels between languages and use these structures to express similar meanings, eventually leading to convergence or increasing the frequency of the similar patterns.<ref name=":2" /> [[Sociolinguistics|Sociolinguistic]] factors may also influence the effects of language convergence, as ethnic boundaries can function as barriers to language convergence. Ethnic boundaries may help to explain areas in which linguists’ predictions about language convergence do not align with reality, such as areas with high inter-ethnic contact but low levels of convergence.<ref name=":2" /> |
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=== '''Results''' === |
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Language convergence often results in the increased frequency of preexisting patterns in a language; if one feature is present in two languages in contact, convergence results in increased use and cross-linguistic similarity of the parallel feature.<ref name=":2" /> As contact situations leading to language convergence lack defined [[Stratum (linguistics)|substrate and superstrate languages,]] the outcomes of convergence often resemble structures found in all the languages involved without perfectly replicating any one pattern.<ref name=":1" /> Language convergence is most apparent in phonetics, with the phonological systems of the languages in contact gradually coming to resemble one another.<ref name=":4" /> In some cases, the results of phonological convergence may be limited to a few phonemes, while in other linguistic areas phonological convergence can result in widespread changes that affect the entire phonological system, such as the development of phonemic tone distinctions.<ref name=":4" /> In contrast to the limited effects of lexical borrowing, phonetic, syntactic, or morphological convergence can have greater consequences, as converging patterns can influence an entire system rather than only a handful of lexical items.<ref name=":2" /> |
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=== '''Difficulties''' === |
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When studying convergence, linguists take care to distinguish between features inherited from a language's proto-language, internally motivated changes, and diffusion from an outside source; in order to argue for language convergence, linguists try to argue for both an outside source and the mechanism that precipitated the change.<ref name=":3" /> The more drastic effects of language convergence, such as significant syntactic convergence and mixed languages, lead some linguists to question the validity of traditional historical linguistic methods.<ref name=":0" /> Because of these far-reaching effects, other linguists are hesitant to accept convergence explanations for similar features and argue that often another explanation better represents changes that might otherwise attributed to language convergence.<ref name=":0" /> |
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=== '''Examples''' === |
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* [[Balkan sprachbund|Balkans Sprachbund]]: Contact between AD 800 and AD 170 lead to changes in [[phonology]], morphology, [[Syntax|syntax,]] and [[lexicon]] of [[Albanian language|Albanian,]] [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian,]] [[Romanian language|Romanian,]] and [[Greek language|Greek.]] The Balkans Sprachbund is an extreme case of language convergence.<ref name=":3" /> |
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* [[Arnhem Land|Arnhem Land,]] Australia: [[Morphosyntactic]] convergence and massive lexical diffusion in the Yuulgnu langauges Ritharngnu, Dhayʔyi, and others and the “Prefixing” languages Ngandi, Nunggubuyu, and others, though long periods of separation helped to preserve language boundaries.<ref name=":3" /> |
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* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Quechuan languages|Quechua:]] Phonological convergence of the palatal /l/ in Spanish and Quechua. Northern variants of Ecuadorian Spanish and Quechua include the innovative /ž/ while southern variants of both languages maintain the /l̃/ pronunciation.<ref name=":4" /> |
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* [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Thai language|Thai]], and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese:]] Form a linguistic area based on the areal feature of [[Phoneme|phonemic]] tone distinctions.<ref name=":0" /> |
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* [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and [[Dravidian languages]]: Include the shared areal feature of [[Retroflex consonant|retroflex consonants.]]<ref name=":0" /> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Dialect levelling]] |
*[[Dialect levelling]] |
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*[[Maltese language]] |
*[[Maltese language]] |
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== References == |
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<references /> |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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*[http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/research/projects/lcla/ The convergence project] |
*[http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/research/projects/lcla/ The convergence project]<br> |
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[[Category:Language contact]] |
[[Category:Language contact]] |
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{{sociolinguistics-stub}} |
{{sociolinguistics-stub}} |
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Revision as of 22:55, 11 May 2016
Language convergence is a type of linguistic change in which languages come to structurally resemble one another as a result of prolonged language contact and mutual interference.[1] In contrast to other contact-induced language changes like creolization or the formation of mixed languages, convergence refers to a mutual process that results in changes in all the languages involved.[2] Linguists use the term to describe changes in the linguistic patterns of the languages in contact rather than alterations of isolated lexical items.[3]
Contexts
Language convergence occurs in geographic areas with two or more unrelated languages in contact, resulting in groups of languages with similar linguistic features that were not inherited from each language's proto-language.[1] These geographic and linguistic groups are called linguistic areas, or Sprachbund areas.[1][4] Linguistic features shared by the languages in a language area as a result of language convergence are called areal features.[1] In situations with many languages in contact and a variety of areal features, linguists may use the term language convergence to indicate the impossibility of locating a singular source for each areal feature.[2] However, as the classification of linguistic areas and language convergence depends on shared areal features, linguists must distinguish between areal features resulting from convergence and internally motivated changes resulting in chance similarities between languages.[5]
Mechanisms
Language convergence occurs primarily through diffusion, the spread of a feature from one language to another.[1] The causes of language convergence are highly dependent on the specifics of the contact between the languages involved. Often, convergence is motivated by bilingual code-switching or code-alternation.[2] Seeking full expressive capacity in both languages, bilingual speakers identify preexisting parallels between languages and use these structures to express similar meanings, eventually leading to convergence or increasing the frequency of the similar patterns.[3] Sociolinguistic factors may also influence the effects of language convergence, as ethnic boundaries can function as barriers to language convergence. Ethnic boundaries may help to explain areas in which linguists’ predictions about language convergence do not align with reality, such as areas with high inter-ethnic contact but low levels of convergence.[3]
Results
Language convergence often results in the increased frequency of preexisting patterns in a language; if one feature is present in two languages in contact, convergence results in increased use and cross-linguistic similarity of the parallel feature.[3] As contact situations leading to language convergence lack defined substrate and superstrate languages, the outcomes of convergence often resemble structures found in all the languages involved without perfectly replicating any one pattern.[2] Language convergence is most apparent in phonetics, with the phonological systems of the languages in contact gradually coming to resemble one another.[5] In some cases, the results of phonological convergence may be limited to a few phonemes, while in other linguistic areas phonological convergence can result in widespread changes that affect the entire phonological system, such as the development of phonemic tone distinctions.[5] In contrast to the limited effects of lexical borrowing, phonetic, syntactic, or morphological convergence can have greater consequences, as converging patterns can influence an entire system rather than only a handful of lexical items.[3]
Difficulties
When studying convergence, linguists take care to distinguish between features inherited from a language's proto-language, internally motivated changes, and diffusion from an outside source; in order to argue for language convergence, linguists try to argue for both an outside source and the mechanism that precipitated the change.[4] The more drastic effects of language convergence, such as significant syntactic convergence and mixed languages, lead some linguists to question the validity of traditional historical linguistic methods.[1] Because of these far-reaching effects, other linguists are hesitant to accept convergence explanations for similar features and argue that often another explanation better represents changes that might otherwise attributed to language convergence.[1]
Examples
- Balkans Sprachbund: Contact between AD 800 and AD 170 lead to changes in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon of Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Greek. The Balkans Sprachbund is an extreme case of language convergence.[4]
- Arnhem Land, Australia: Morphosyntactic convergence and massive lexical diffusion in the Yuulgnu langauges Ritharngnu, Dhayʔyi, and others and the “Prefixing” languages Ngandi, Nunggubuyu, and others, though long periods of separation helped to preserve language boundaries.[4]
- Spanish and Quechua: Phonological convergence of the palatal /l/ in Spanish and Quechua. Northern variants of Ecuadorian Spanish and Quechua include the innovative /ž/ while southern variants of both languages maintain the /l̃/ pronunciation.[5]
- Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese: Form a linguistic area based on the areal feature of phonemic tone distinctions.[1]
- Indo-European and Dravidian languages: Include the shared areal feature of retroflex consonants.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Crowley, Terry; Bowern, Claire (2010). An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 269–272. ISBN 0195365542.
- ^ a b c d Thomason, Sarah (2001). Language Contact: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 89–90, 152. ISBN 0748607196.
- ^ a b c d e Hickey, Raymond, ed. (2010). The Handbook of Language Contact. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 19, 68–9, 76, 285–87. ISBN 1444318160.
- ^ a b c d Winford, Donald (2003). An Introduction to Contact Linguistics. Malden, MA: Blackwell. pp. 65, 70–78. ISBN 0631212515.
- ^ a b c d Appel, René; Pieter Muysken (1987). “Language Contact and Language Change,” In Language Contact and Bilingualism. New York: Edward Arnold. pp. 153-163.
External links
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