Cover not available

Article published In: Demystifying New Methods in Historical Linguistics
Edited by Erich Round
[Diachronica 41:3] 2024
► pp. 379–413

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

A typological approach to language change in contact situations

ORCiD logo with link | University of Helsinki
ORCiD logo with link | Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, LPL | University of Helsinki
 | University of Edinburgh | University of Helsinki
 | University of Cologne
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

This article was made Open Access under a CC BY 4.0 license through payment of an APC by or on behalf of the authors.

Published online: 25 June 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.23029.sin
Abstract
Language contact phenomena have increasingly been researched from different historical linguistic, sociolinguistic and areal-typological perspectives. However, since most of this research is based on case studies, an assessment of contact phenomena from a worldwide comparative perspective has been missing in the literature. In this article, we draw inspiration from historical linguistics and language typology to present a new typological approach for evaluating evidence that given linguistic domains have been affected by language contact. This method has three parts: (1) a new approach to sampling, (2) the analysis of typological data, and (3) making probabilistic inferences about language contact. We argue that this is a parsimonious method for evaluating contact effects that can serve as a starting point for the further development of typological approaches to language contact.
Résumé
Les phénomènes de contact sont de plus en plus étudiés à partir de différentes perspectives telles que la linguistique historique, la sociolinguistique, la linguistique typologique et aréale. Cependant, vu que la majorité de ces recherches se basent sur des études de cas, il n’y a pas, à ce jour, une évaluation systématique des phénomènes de contact à partir d’une approche comparative à large échelle. En s’inspirant de la linguistique historique et typologique, cet article présente une nouvelle approche typologique pour évaluer l’incidence du contact sur la distribution de certaines propriétés structurelles des langues. La méthode se compose de trois parties: (1) une nouvelle approche à l’échantillonnage typologique, (2) une nouvelle procédure d’analyse pour les données typologiques et (3) une nouvelle technique statistique pour formuler des inférences sur la probabilité du changement dû au contact. Nous démontrons que cette méthode parcimonieuse, qui permet d’évaluer les effets du contact sur la structure des langues, offre un point de départ solide pour le développement des approches typologiques portant sur le contact langagier.
Zusammenfassung
Sprachkontaktphänomene werden zunehmend aus verschiedenen Perspektiven untersucht, z. B. aus historischer, soziolinguistischer oder areal-typologischer Perspektive. Allerdings basiert die Mehrheit der Untersuchungen auf Fallstudien, sodass eine Auswertung der Kontaktphänomene aus einer weltweiten komparativen Perspektive in der Literatur bis anhin fehlt. In diesem Artikel präsentieren wir einen neuen typologischen Ansatz für die Analyse von Sprachkontakt, der Inspiration aus der historischen Linguistik und Typologie zieht. Diese Analysemethode kann verwendet werden um zu evaluieren, ob gegebene linguistische Domänen von Sprachkontakt beeinflusst wurden. Unsere Methode besteht aus drei Teilen: (1) einer neuen Samplingmethode, (2) der Analyse typologischer Daten, und (3) den probabilistischen Schlussfolgerungen über Sprachkontakt. Es wird hier argumentiert, dass dies eine sparsame Methode zur Bewertung von Sprachkontakteffekten ist, und dass die Methode auch als Ausgangspunkt für Weiterentwicklungen typologischer Ansätze zu Sprachkontakt benutzt werden kann.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Sampling for contact
  • 3.Coding design for typological variables
    • 3.1Principles of coding design
    • 3.2Example: Syllable structure
  • 4.Evaluating evidence for contact
    • 4.1Analytical grid for evaluating evidence for contact
      • 4.1.1Example: Syllable structure
    • 4.2Bayesian assessment of evidence for contact
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Statement of author contributions
  • Notes
  • Supplements
    • Supplement S1.Descriptions of the broad typological categories
      • Summary of the definition files
        • Nominal number
        • Adnominal possession
        • Lexical prosody systems
        • Adnominal demonstratives
    • Supplement S2.Example data from 2 sample sets for syllable structure
    • Supplement S3.R function for beta distribution
    • Supplement S4.Potential improvements to the inference model
  • References
References (49)
References
Backus, Ad. 2014. Towards a usage-based account of language change: Implications of contact linguistics for linguistic theory. In Robert Nicolaï (ed.), Questioning language contact, 91–118. Leiden: Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bickel, Balthasar. 2010. Capturing particulars and universals in clause linkage: A multivariate analysis. In Isabel Bril (ed.), Clause-hierarchy and clause-linking: The syntax and pragmatics interface, 51–102. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bickel, Balthasar, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Kamal K. Choudhary, Matthias Schlesewsky & Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky. 2015. The neurophysiology of language processing shapes the evolution of grammar: Evidence from case marking. PLoS ONE 10(8). e0132819. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bickel, Balthasar, Johanna Nichols, Taras Zakharko, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Kristine A. Hildebrandt, Michael Rießler, Lennart Bierkandt, Fernando Zúñiga & John B. Lowe. 2022. The AUTOTYP database, version 1.1.0. Zenodo. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowern, Claire. 2013. Relatedness as a factor in language contact. Journal of Language Contact 6(2). 411–432. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, Joan L. & Sandra A. Thompson. 1997. Three frequency effects in syntax. Berkeley Linguistic Society (BLS) 231. 65–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cathcart, Chundra, Gerd Carling, Filip Larsson, Niklas Johansson & Erich Round. 2018. Areal pressure in grammatical evolution: An Indo-European case study. Diachronica 35(1). 1–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Croft, William A. 2021. A sociolinguistic typology for languages in contact. In Enoch O. Aboh & Cécile B. Vigouroux (eds.), Variation rolls the dice: A worldwide collage in honour of Salikoko S. Mufwene, 2–56. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Di Garbo, Francesca, Eri Kashima, Ricardo Napoleão de Souza & Kaius Sinnemäki. 2021. Concepts and methods for integrating language typology and sociolinguistics. In Silvia Ballarè & Guglielmo Inglese (eds.), Tipologia e Sociolinguistica: verso un approccio integrato allo studio della variazione: Atti del Workshop della Società Linguistica Italiana 20 settembre 2020, 143–176. Milan: Officinaventuno. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Di Garbo, Francesca & Ricardo Napoleão de Souza. 2023. A sampling technique for worldwide comparisons of contact scenarios. Linguistic Typology 27(3). 553–589. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dryer, Matthew S. & Martin Haspelmath (eds.) 2013. WALS Online (v2020.3) [Data set]. Zenodo. Available online at [URL]
Dunn, Michael, Simon J. Greenhill, Stephen C. Levinson & Russel D. Gray. 2011. Evolved structure of language shows lineage-specific trends in word-order universals. Nature 473(7345). 79–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Easterday, Shelece. 2019. Highly complex syllable structure: A typological and diachronic study. Berlin: Language Science Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Easterday, Shelece & Ricardo Napoleão de Souza. 2015. Is there evidence for a hierarchy in the synchronic patterning of syllable onsets? 11th Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology, Albuquerque, USA, August 1–3.
Fortescue, Michael D. 1998. Language relations across Bering Strait: Reappraising the archaeological and linguistic evidence. London: Cassell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guy, Gregory R. 2011. Variation and change. In Warren Maguire & April McMahon (eds.), Analysing variation in English, 178–198. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guzmán Naranjo, Matías & Laura Becker. 2022. Statistical bias control in typology. Linguistic Typology 26(3). 605–670. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hübler, Nataliia. 2022. Phylogenetic signal and rate of evolutionary change in language structures. Royal Society Open Science 9(3). 211252. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jäger, Gerhard & Johann-Mattis List. 2018. Using ancestral state reconstruction methods for onomasiological reconstruction in multilingual word lists. Language Dynamics and Change 8(1). 22–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kashima, Eri, Francesca Di Garbo, Olesya Khanina & Ruth Singer. In review. The design principles of a sociolinguistic-typological questionnaire for language contact research. Language Dynamics and Change.
Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria. 2010. Linguistic typology and language contact. In Jae Jung Song (ed.), The Oxford handbook of linguistic typology, 568–590. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lesage, Jakob, Hannah J. Haynie, Hedvig Skirgård, Tobias Weber & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich. 2022. Overlooked data in typological databases: What Grambank teaches us about gaps in grammars. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth Language Resources and Evaluation Conference, 2884–2890. Marseille: European Language Resources Association. [URL]
Levshina, Natalia. 2019. Token-based typology and word order entropy: A study based on Universal Dependencies. Linguistic Typology 23(3). 533–572. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
List, Johann-Mattis. 2019. Automated methods for the investigation of language contact, with a focus on lexical borrowing. Language and Linguistics Compass 13(10). e12355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lüpke, Friederike. 2019. Language endangerment and language documentation in Africa. In H. Ekkehard Wolff (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics, 468–490. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Macklin-Cordes, Jayden L. & Erich R. Round. 2022. Challenges of sampling and how phylogenetic comparative methods help: With a case study of the Pama-Nyungan laminal contrast. Linguistic Typology 26(3). 533–572. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maddieson, Ian. 2013. Syllable structure. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), WALS Online (v2020.3) [Data set]. Zenodo. Available online at [URL]
Marten, Lutz & Malin Petzell. 2016. Linguistic variation and the dynamics of language documentation: Editing in ‘pure’ Kagulu. Language Documentation & Conservation 101. 105–129. [URL]
Maslova, Elena. 2003. A case for implicational universals. Linguistic Typology 7(1). 101–118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McGhee, George R. 2011. Convergent evolution: Limited forms most beautiful. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miestamo, Matti. 2011. Skolt Saami: A typological profile. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja 2011(93). 111–145. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miestamo, Matti, Dik Bakker & Antti Arppe. 2016. Sampling for variety. Linguistic Typology 20(2). 233–296. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Napoleão de Souza, Ricardo, Francesca Di Garbo, Kaius Sinnemäki, Eri Kashima, Noora Ahola, Anu Hyvönen & Oona Raatikainen. 2022. Typologizing contact effects on a global scale. Paper presented at the 14th Biennial Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology, 15–17 December 2022, Austin, TX.
Napoleão de Souza, Ricardo & Kaius Sinnemäki. 2022. Beyond segment inventories: Phonological complexity and suprasegmental variables in contact situations. Journal of Language Contact 15(3–4). 439–480. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neureiter, Nico, Peter Ranacher, Nour Efrat-Kowalsky, Gereon A. Kaiping, Robert Weibel, Paul Widmer & Remco R. Bouckaert. 2022. Detecting contact in language trees: A Bayesian phylogenetic model with horizontal transfer. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9(1). 1–14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, Maria. 2014. Heritage languages and their speakers: Looking ahead. In Marta Fairclough & Sara M. Beaudrie (eds.), Innovative approaches to heritage languages: From research to practice, 325–346. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. [URL]
R Core Team. 2023. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. [URL]
Ranacher, Peter, Nico Neureiter, Rik van Gijn, Barbara Sonnenhauser, Anastasia Escher, Robert Weibel, Pieter Muysken & Balthasar Bickel. 2021. Contact-tracing in cultural evolution: A Bayesian mixture model to detect geographic areas of language contact. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 18(181). 20201031. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Riad, Tomas. 2014. The phonology of Swedish. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sinnemäki, Kaius, Francesca Di Garbo, Eri Kashima, Ricardo Napoleão de Souza & T. Mark Ellison. 2023. Language contact effects in their multilingual ecology: A typological approach. A paper presented at the 56th Annual Conference of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE), 29 August–1 September 2023, Athens.
Sinnemäki, Kaius & Noora Ahola. 2023. Testing inferences about language contact on morphosyntax: A typological case study on Alorese–Adang contact. Transactions of the Philological Society 121(3). 513–545. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thomason, Sarah Grey. 2001. Language contact: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thomason, Sarah Grey & Terrence Kaufman. 1988. Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. Berkeley: University of California Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres Cacoullos, Rena & Catherine E. Travis. 2018. Bilingualism in the community: Code-switching and grammars in contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. 2011. Sociolinguistic typology: Social determinants of linguistic complexity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, Johanna Nichols, Kristine A. Hildebrandt, Taras Zakharko & Balthasar Bickel. 2022. Managing AUTOTYP data: Design principles and implementation. In Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, Bradley McDonnell, Eve Koller & Lauren B. Collister (eds.), The open handbook of linguistic data management, 631–642. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yakpo, Kofi. 2020. Social factors. In Evangelia Adamou & Yaron Matras (eds.), The Routledge handbook of language contact, 129–146. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ylikoski, Jussi. 2022. South Saami. In Marianne Bakró-Nagy, Johanna Laakso & Elena Skribnik (eds.), The Oxford guide to the Uralic languages, 113–129. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Alfimova, Daria, Kirill Kozhanov & Sergey Say
2025. Areal effects on argument-coding patterns. Studies in Language 49:4 ► pp. 757 ff. DOI logo
Di Garbo, Francesca & Panagiotis Kapellis
2025. Contact effects in nominal number systems. Studies in Language 49:3 ► pp. 712 ff. DOI logo
Graff, Anna, Damián E. Blasi, Erik J. Ringen, Vladimir Bajić, Daphné Bavelier, Kentaro K. Shimizu, Brigitte Pakendorf, Chiara Barbieri & Balthasar Bickel
2025. Patterns of genetic admixture reveal similar rates of borrowing across diverse scenarios of language contact. Science Advances 11:35 DOI logo
Lüpke, Friederike
2025. 1357 A situationally based model of language and (trans)languaging in multilingual ecologies. In Towards a Holistic Understanding of Language Contact in the Past, ► pp. 135 ff. DOI logo
Seržant, Ilja A., Berfin Aktaṣ, Maria Ovsjannikova & Manfred Stede
2025. Distance-based approach reveals convergence effects in word order among the languages of the Circum-Baltic linguistic area. Studies in Language DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue