Can there be language continuity in language contact?
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Brian D. Joseph
Abstract
The paper argues that contact-induced change is no more unusual or “inorganic” than any sort of language change, and that it does not affect the basic continuity that language transmission across generations ensures. Language continuity depends on an unbroken line of transmission, which may be preserved not only in cases of system-internal changes, but also in changes induced by language contact, even in creoles and mixed languages. The paper illustrates these points by examining three cases of language contact: Judezmo (Judeo-Spanish spoken by Jewish communities in the Balkans before World War II); the Constantinople Judeo-Greek dialect of the 16th century; the diglossia in 19th century Greece between Demotic and Katharevousa.
Abstract
The paper argues that contact-induced change is no more unusual or “inorganic” than any sort of language change, and that it does not affect the basic continuity that language transmission across generations ensures. Language continuity depends on an unbroken line of transmission, which may be preserved not only in cases of system-internal changes, but also in changes induced by language contact, even in creoles and mixed languages. The paper illustrates these points by examining three cases of language contact: Judezmo (Judeo-Spanish spoken by Jewish communities in the Balkans before World War II); the Constantinople Judeo-Greek dialect of the 16th century; the diglossia in 19th century Greece between Demotic and Katharevousa.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgement and Preface ix
- Introduction 1
- The limits of multiple-source contact influence 33
- Existential possessive modality in the emergence of Modern Hebrew 55
- The derivation of a concessive from an aspectual adverb by reanalysis in Modern Hebrew 95
- Why did the future form of the verb displace the imperative form in the informal register of Modern Hebrew? 117
- The change in Hebrew from a V-framed to an S-framed Language 143
- From written to spoken usage 179
- Language change, prescriptive language, and spontaneous speech in Modern Hebrew 201
- The biblical sources of Modern Hebrew syntax 221
- Can there be language continuity in language contact? 257
- Our creolized tongues 287
- Why do children lead contact-induced language change in some contexts but not others? 321
- Variation and conventionalization in language emergence 337
- “Mame Loshen” 365
- Index 387
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgement and Preface ix
- Introduction 1
- The limits of multiple-source contact influence 33
- Existential possessive modality in the emergence of Modern Hebrew 55
- The derivation of a concessive from an aspectual adverb by reanalysis in Modern Hebrew 95
- Why did the future form of the verb displace the imperative form in the informal register of Modern Hebrew? 117
- The change in Hebrew from a V-framed to an S-framed Language 143
- From written to spoken usage 179
- Language change, prescriptive language, and spontaneous speech in Modern Hebrew 201
- The biblical sources of Modern Hebrew syntax 221
- Can there be language continuity in language contact? 257
- Our creolized tongues 287
- Why do children lead contact-induced language change in some contexts but not others? 321
- Variation and conventionalization in language emergence 337
- “Mame Loshen” 365
- Index 387
