What happens when users of different languages or dialects come into contact, either at the individual or community level? How do new languages emerge and what roles do social context and universal processes of language change, linked to human cognition, play in the outcome? This course explores the social, linguistic, and cognitive processes that contribute to the origins and development of contact languages (e.g., Mixed, Pidgin, Creole Languages). Topics explored include accommodation, borrowing, code-switching, language mixing, language shift, koineization, grammaticalization, and the emergence of new languages. The course will survey situations of language contact across the globe, introducing students to theories and models of language contact, which they will learn how to apply in analyzing both contemporary and historical linguistic data.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: LING 114 or CLSC 216/PSYC 216 required. One of the following is recommended, but not required - LING 238, LING 240, LING 244.

Distribution Requirements: EC - Epistemology and Cognition; SBA - Social and Behavioral Analysis

Typical Periods Offered: Every other year; Spring

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring

Notes: