Language contact is a universal and inevitable phenomenon that exists as long as language does. Most people in the world speak more than one language, and most countries have more than one official language. So how is language contact defined? In what environments does it operate, what phases does it go through, and what does it mean for the languages themselves and their speakers?

In this study, Sarah G. Thomason examines the social (political, historical, etc.) context that shapes the type, rate, and intensity of language contact, focusing on the mechanisms by which it manifests and the consequences it has for the language systems themselves – which can range from simple and common phenomena, such as borrowing words, to complex and striking ones, such as the typological reorganization of entire phonological, morphological, and syntactic systems.

In some cases, linguistic features spread over a large geographical area and simultaneously affect many languages, thus shaping linguistic unions, such as the Balkan Language Union, which includes the Greek language. In other cases, when contact conditions allow, new languages, such as pidgins and creoles, emerge, while others shrink and disappear.

This book, written in a simple and accessible style by an authority in the field of contact linguistics, is primarily aimed at students who are just beginning their acquaintance with this specific field. However, it also serves as a useful tool for both educators and specialist linguists.

Sarah G. Thomason is a professor of linguistics at the University of Michigan.