Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps Volume I
- Figures Volume I
- Tables Volume I
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One Language Contact and Genetic Linguistics
- Part Two Linguistic Areas
- 7 The Balkans
- 8 The Amazon Basin: Linguistic Areas and Language Contact
- 9 Migration and Trade as Drivers of Language Spread and Contact in Indigenous Latin America
- 10 Language Contact in South Asia
- Part Three Language Spread
- Part Four Emergence and Spread of Some European Languages
- Part Five Language Diasporas
- Author Index
- Language Index
- Subject Index
- References
10 - Language Contact in South Asia
from Part Two - Linguistic Areas
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 June 2022
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps Volume I
- Figures Volume I
- Tables Volume I
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One Language Contact and Genetic Linguistics
- Part Two Linguistic Areas
- 7 The Balkans
- 8 The Amazon Basin: Linguistic Areas and Language Contact
- 9 Migration and Trade as Drivers of Language Spread and Contact in Indigenous Latin America
- 10 Language Contact in South Asia
- Part Three Language Spread
- Part Four Emergence and Spread of Some European Languages
- Part Five Language Diasporas
- Author Index
- Language Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
Language contact in South Asia has been studied since the early nineteenth century. The prevailing approach operates with the concept of “substratum influence” or “subversion,” a unilateral structural influence of one language or language family on another. An alternate approach operates with the notion “convergence,” a bi- or multi-directional structural interaction between languages in contact. Evidence from the interaction between English and South Asian languages, as well as many South Asian languages with each other, lends strong support to the second approach and suggests that apparent cases of unilateral influence in South Asia deserve reexamination.
For convergence to take place, a pattern of long-standing non-replacive bi- or multilingualism is required. This pattern is now endangered by the fact the states of India, organized in terms of different majority languages, are making use of the state language mandatory in public affairs and government jobs. As a consequence there is a relatively sudden shift from minority languages to state languages, and “tribal languages” spoken by marginalized groups are greatly endangered.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language ContactVolume 1: Population Movement and Language Change, pp. 299 - 324Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
References
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