Usage-Based Contact Linguistics: Effects of Frequency and Similarity in Language Contact

Journal of Language Contact

article

Nikolay Hakimov¹  Ad Backus² 

[1] Slavic Linguistics, Department of Slavic Studies, University of Bamberg;Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg University

关键词: contact-induced change;    code-switching;    language mixing;    usage;    frequency effects;    linguistic similarity;   

DOI  :  10.1163/19552629-13030009

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Brill

【 摘 要 】

The influence of usage frequency, and particularly of linguistic similarity on human linguistic behavior and linguistic change in situations of language contact are well documented in contact linguistics literature. However, a theoretical framework capable of unifying the various explanations, which are usually couched in either structuralist, sociolinguistic, or psycholinguistic parlance, is still lacking. In this introductory article we argue that a usage-based approach to language organization and linguistic behavior suits this purpose well and that the study of language contact phenomena will benefit from the adoption of this theoretical perspective. The article sketches an outline of usage-based linguistics, proposes ways to analyze language contact phenomena in this framework, and summarizes the major findings of the individual contributions to the special issue, which not only demonstrate that contact phenomena are usefully studied from the usage-based perspective, but document that taking a usage-based approach reveals new aspects of old phenomena.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC