In and Around the Balkans: Romance Languages and the Making of Layered Languages

Journal of Language Contact

article

Francesco Gardani¹  Michele Loporcaro¹  Alberto Giudici¹ 

[1] Institute of Romance Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Zurich

关键词: Balkan sprachbund;    borrowing;    layered languages;    linguistic area;    reanalysis;    Romance languages;    structural convergence;   

DOI  :  10.1163/19552629-14010001

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Brill

【 摘 要 】

The languages of the Balkans are a rich source of data on contact-induced language change. The result of a centuries long process of lexical and structural convergence has been referred to as a ‘sprachbund’. While widely applied, this notion has, however, increasingly been questioned with respect to its usefulness. Addressing the linguistic makeup of the Balkan languages, the notion of sprachbund is critically assessed. It is shown that a) the Balkan languages and the Balkan linguistic exclaves (Albanian and Greek spoken on the Italian peninsula) share similar contact-induced phenomena, and b) the principal processes underlying the development of the Balkan languages are borrowing and reanalysis, two fundamental and general mechanisms of language change.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC