Urban Contact Dialects and Language Change: Insights from the Global North and South

This volume compares urban contact dialects in the Global North and South, examining the emergence and development of these dialects in major cities in sub-Saharan Africa and North-Western Europe. It sheds light on the new language practices and mixed ways of speaking resulting from large-scale migration and intense contact between new and existing languages and dialects. The comparisons are reinforced by a consistent chapter structure, with commentaries from researchers contributing different theoretical and geographical perspectives. The book offers new insights into migration-based linguistic diversity and patterns of language variation and change.

Format: Hardback
Length: 350 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive volume delves into the intricate examination of urban contact dialects across the Global North and South, shedding light on their emergence and development in major cities in Sub-Saharan Africa and North-Western Europe. With a keen focus on contemporary urban environments, the book explores the fascinating new language practices and mixed ways of speaking that arise from the significant influx of migrants and the intense contact between diverse languages and dialects within these contexts. By comparing these novel patterns of language variation and change between cities in both Africa and Europe, the volume presents a unique opportunity to delve into both commonalities and sociolinguistic disparities in societally multilingual settings and those dominated by a strong monolingual habitus.

To facilitate this comparative analysis, the book adopts a consistent chapter structure, providing a comprehensive overview of the linguistic and social context of each region. It encompasses detailed information on available data, including corpora, which serve as valuable sources of linguistic evidence. The subsequent chapters present sociolinguistic and structural findings, offering insightful insights into the status and stability of urban contact dialects over time. The discussion is further enriched by short commentaries from researchers with diverse theoretical and geographical perspectives, adding depth and richness to the overall narrative.

Taken as a whole, this book offers invaluable insights into migration-based linguistic diversity and the patterns of language variation and change. It serves as an essential resource for students and scholars engaged in general linguistics, language structure, sociolinguistics, creole studies, diachronic linguistics, language acquisition, anthropological linguistics, language education, and discourse analysis. By exploring the complexities of urban contact dialects, this volume contributes to our understanding of the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of languages in our globalized world.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138596092