Chapter 2 Language contact and language attrition: Processes and constellations
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Claudia Maria Riehl
Abstract
The frameworks of language attrition and language contact both investigate the influence of a second language (L2) on the first language (L1), but generally focus on different speaker populations. However, approaches that address language contact in immigrant settings demonstrate that the linguistic features found in individual attrition and typical language contact settings follow the same development path (Riehl 2019; Schmid 2011). These approaches try to integrate the individual and societal perspective by assuming that language contact starts at the level of the individual speaker and in course of time is spread throughout the speech community (e.g. Clyne 2003; Matras 2020; Riehl 2014). In this context, contact-induced changes in a language have to be discerned from other internal processes of language change which are also common in language attrition and language shift, i.e., restructuring processes of the grammatical system (cf. Riehl 2019). This chapter starts from the different notions of contact-induced language change and discusses the different processes involved (transfer, restructuring and simplification strategies), both from a cognitive and linguistic perspective. Subsequently, it discusses the different types of attriters: Canonical first generation attriters, heritage language speakers of the second and third generations and minority language speakers of language enclaves. The particular processes of language contact in these different groups will be illustrated by examples from language contact situations worldwide. It will be demonstrated that despite individual variations there are instances of transference that occur in different speakers and different communities independently. While the focus will be on first and second generation speakers of German as a heritage language, the chapter will also give an insight into the development of language contact settings in German-speaking enclaves in Eastern Europe, Australia and Latin America.
Abstract
The frameworks of language attrition and language contact both investigate the influence of a second language (L2) on the first language (L1), but generally focus on different speaker populations. However, approaches that address language contact in immigrant settings demonstrate that the linguistic features found in individual attrition and typical language contact settings follow the same development path (Riehl 2019; Schmid 2011). These approaches try to integrate the individual and societal perspective by assuming that language contact starts at the level of the individual speaker and in course of time is spread throughout the speech community (e.g. Clyne 2003; Matras 2020; Riehl 2014). In this context, contact-induced changes in a language have to be discerned from other internal processes of language change which are also common in language attrition and language shift, i.e., restructuring processes of the grammatical system (cf. Riehl 2019). This chapter starts from the different notions of contact-induced language change and discusses the different processes involved (transfer, restructuring and simplification strategies), both from a cognitive and linguistic perspective. Subsequently, it discusses the different types of attriters: Canonical first generation attriters, heritage language speakers of the second and third generations and minority language speakers of language enclaves. The particular processes of language contact in these different groups will be illustrated by examples from language contact situations worldwide. It will be demonstrated that despite individual variations there are instances of transference that occur in different speakers and different communities independently. While the focus will be on first and second generation speakers of German as a heritage language, the chapter will also give an insight into the development of language contact settings in German-speaking enclaves in Eastern Europe, Australia and Latin America.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Chapter 1 Introduction: Contact-related variation and change – crossing the boundaries within and between languages 1
- Chapter 2 Language contact and language attrition: Processes and constellations 39
- Chapter 3 Two modes of contact-induced change in minority languages: Phonology and syntax vs. inflectional morphology 65
- Chapter 4 Variation and change in comparative structures as an interaction of language internal and language external factors: Evidence from Asia Minor Greek 93
- Chapter 5 Linguistic reconstruction and creole emergence: The case of Upper Guinea creoles 119
- Chapter 6 Language contact and expressives in Italian 149
- Chapter 7 Digital code play as a sign of the multicompetent self in the internet discourse of Russian speakers in Italy 169
- Chapter 8 Sociolinguistic typology and language contact in Northern Italy 199
- Chapter 9 Dialect contact and koineization in Italy 225
- Chapter 10 Sociolinguistic norms on the usage of Italian within refugee centres in Italy 255
- Subject index 275
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Chapter 1 Introduction: Contact-related variation and change – crossing the boundaries within and between languages 1
- Chapter 2 Language contact and language attrition: Processes and constellations 39
- Chapter 3 Two modes of contact-induced change in minority languages: Phonology and syntax vs. inflectional morphology 65
- Chapter 4 Variation and change in comparative structures as an interaction of language internal and language external factors: Evidence from Asia Minor Greek 93
- Chapter 5 Linguistic reconstruction and creole emergence: The case of Upper Guinea creoles 119
- Chapter 6 Language contact and expressives in Italian 149
- Chapter 7 Digital code play as a sign of the multicompetent self in the internet discourse of Russian speakers in Italy 169
- Chapter 8 Sociolinguistic typology and language contact in Northern Italy 199
- Chapter 9 Dialect contact and koineization in Italy 225
- Chapter 10 Sociolinguistic norms on the usage of Italian within refugee centres in Italy 255
- Subject index 275
