Contact Varieties of Language: Spanglish, Chinglish, Finglish

Language contact occurs when two or more languages or varieties of the same language interact. Contact can occur at language borders or as a result of colonization, (im)migration, defined governmental language policies, and globalization. The outcomes of linguistic encounters are varied and diverse, from minimal borrowing of vocabulary to the creation of new language varieties. The particular result is contingent upon the language-internal factors and the language-external factors (cognitive, social, cultural) that characterize the context at issue. Relevant linguistic factors include the typological similarity of the languages involved and the particular area of language structure under study (e.g., lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax). Pertinent external factors include the extent to which the languages are used, the functions that each language has been allocated, and the interpretive ...

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