Dynamics of Contact-induced language change
Résumé
This volume deals with some never before described morphosyntactic variations and changes appearing in settings involving language contact. The primary purpose of the articles it presents is to identify different factors in language change. These changes are not treated as phenomena amenable to explanation from a single source: they constitute a dynamic domain of complex, complementary, and correlated processes that have to be treated with a fine-grained approach. The development of morphosyntactic structures in a situation of language contact should not be analyzed through a single lens. Contact-induced changes are generally defined as dynamic and multiple, involving internal change as well as historical and sociolinguistic factors. The identification and consideration of a variety of explanations constitutes a first step; analyzing their relationships forms a second. Only a multifaceted methodology enables this fine-grained approach to contact-induced change. A range of methodologies are proposed in the following chapters, but they generally have their roots in a typological perspective. The contributors recognize the precautionary principle: for example, they emphasize the difficulty of studying languages that have not been described adequately and for which diachronic data are not extensive or reliable, and they warn of the dangers of hypothesizing beyond the evidence and identifying possible tendencies that can never be confirmed definitively. Three main perspectives on contact-induced language change are presented here, corresponding to three possible approaches to discussing the subject as part of a complex whole. The first explores the role of multilingual speakers in contact-induced language change, especially their spontaneous innovations in discourse. The second explores the differences between ordinary contact-induced change and change in endangered languages. The third discusses various aspects of the relationship between contact-induced change and internal change.