- •Lecture 1 the essence of language communication
- •1.1 Communication Theory
- •1.2 Methods & Main Lines of Research in Communicative Studies
- •1.3 Defining Communication
- •Main Functions of Interpersonal Language Communication:
- •1.4 Typology of Communication
- •1.5 Models of Communication
- •1.6 Ethnography of Communication
- •References
- •Lectures 2 Language as the Medium of Human Communication.
- •Language from the Standpoint of Culture and Cognition
- •2. Spoken versus Written Language
- •3. Lexical Density
- •4. Indicating Status
- •5. Footing
- •6. Protecting Face
- •Lecture 3 Conversational Communication and Types of Communicative Messages:
- •Verbal, Non-Verbal.
- •The Process of Conversation.
- •2. Managing Conversation
- •3. Maintaining Conversation
- •4. The Nature of Verbal / Non-Verbal Messages
- •5. The Relative Importance of Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication
- •Lecture 4 Pragmatic Aspect of Language Communication
- •4.1 Defining Pragmatics
- •4.2 Cooperation and Implicature
- •4.3 Hedges
- •4.4 Speech Acts and Events
- •4.5 Conditions for the Performance of Speech Acts
- •4.6 Direct and Indirect Speech Acts
- •Lecture 5 Language Contact as an Outcome of Language Communication
- •5.1 The Subject Matter of Contact Linguistics
- •5.2 History of Research on Language Contact
- •5.3 The Field of Contact Linguistics
- •5.4 Types of Contact Situation
- •5.5 Language Creation: New Contact Languages
- •Lecture 6 Language Contact and Linguistic Variation: Style, Social Class, Sex, Gender, Ethnicity
- •6.1 Language and Social Class
- •6.2 Style
- •6.3 Style as the Second Main Dimension of Linguistic Variation
- •6.4 Function versus Structure
- •6.5 Overview of Approaches to Style
- •6.6 Language and Gender / Sex
- •Lecture 7 Language Contact and Linguistic Convergence
- •7.1 Sprachbund: Contact Across Contiguous
- •7.2 Substratum, Superstratum, Adstratum
- •7.3 Balkanisms as an Example of Language Convergence
- •7.4 Language Contact and Phonological Change
Lecture 7 Language Contact and Linguistic Convergence
1. Sprachbund: ContactAcross Contiguous Speech Communities
2. Substratum, Superstratum, Adstratum
3. Balkanisms as an Example of Language Convergence (Balkan Sprachbund)
4. Language Contact and Phonological Change
7.1 Sprachbund: Contact Across Contiguous
Speech Communities
The observation has frequently been made in different parts of the world that some languages spoken in the same geographical area share typological features, even though they may be related only remotely or not at all. This kind of sеtting leading to structural diffusion is characterized as prоlоngеd соntact across geographically contiguous lаnguаgе communities [1, p. 11]. The groups involvedmay develop close links andpatterns of interaction for purposes of trade, or because of cultural practices such as exogamy, or because they are subsumed through
conquest within a larger political conglomerate.Anyway, the languagesthey speak are said to constitute a Sprachbund, a language convergence area and the languages spoken within that area, in which genetic heterogeneity is gradually replaced by typological homogeneity. The German term Sprachbund was coined by Trubetzkoy [20], who apparently saw it as a counterpart to the notion of language family. It
has been translated roughly as language association, language league, union of languages. Other terms that have been used include convergence area, diffusion area. But the term Sprachbund is now the generally accepted choice.
The concept itselfwas elaborated in an influential article by Jakobson [12; 13], inwhich he described phonological linguistic alliances in eastern Asia, northern Europe, and the wide territory comprising eastern Europe and western Asia that he referred to as Eurasia. Later Jakobson added the important notion of linguistic affinity, claiming that under conditions of language contact only those elements of structure are accepted by a language from another language that correspond to its own tendencies of development.
Linguistic convergence in a Sprachbund presupposes a situation in which speakers of different languages live in close proximity for centuries and maintain their own language for communication with members of their own group yet also frequently have to communicate with speakers of other languages who reside in the same geographical area [6, p. 158; 7, p. 91]. Before discussing some typical cases, let us
consider two kinds of situations in which language shift rather than language maintenance is the result.
One way in which languages can come into contact is the arrival of a substantial group of newcomers to a formerly linguistically homogeneous territory. One possible outcome is that both groups continue to speak their own language: this may ultimately lead to a linguistic alliance – Sprachbund. The newcomers may be assimilated into the indigenous population and assume their language, or the newcomers’ languagemay prevail and the original inhabitantsmay adopt it.Which outcome emerges as a result of the contact situation depends on a large number of extralinguistic factors such as the size of the respective groups, their level of material and nonmaterial culture and their military strength [5, p. 43]. Usually a period of widespread bilingualismprecedes the language shift.