Language Endangerment: Language Contact and Language Change

Organisers

Dr Mari Jones (Dept. of French, University of Cambridge)

Dr Damien Mooney (Dept. of French, University of Bristol)

Languages become endangered when their speakers are in contact with other speech varieties which are often considered to carry greater social prestige. These interactions commonly lead to some change in how one or more of the languages are spoken. This could be in terms of the linguistic structure of the language itself or of the sociolinguistic situation and context in which the language is spoken. This conference invites papers that reflect on these issues: How are the functions of the endangered languages affected by contact? Are the linguistic changes observable in the grammar and vocabulary of endangered languages essentially the same as those that we find in languages that are not endangered? Are there any particular kinds of linguistic change that are more likely to occur in endangered languages? When endangered languages are documented, to what extent should contact-induced linguistic changes be included in this record? How is the make-up of the endangered language speech community affected by bi- or multi-lingualism? Are the attitudes of speakers towards commonly-found types of language change (such as code-switching and borrowing) different in speech communities where a language is endangered, as compared to those where the language is not endangered? Can any similarities be found between contact-induced change in endangered sign languages and that which occurs in endangered spoken languages?