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Language contact
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== Outcomes of language contact == === Language shift === {{Main|Language shift}} The result of the contact of two languages can be the replacement of one by the other. This is most common when one language has a higher social position ([[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]]). This sometimes leads to language endangerment or [[language death|extinction]]. === Stratal influence === {{Main|Stratum (linguistics)}} When language shift occurs, the language that is replaced (known as the [[Substrata (linguistics)|substratum]]) can leave a profound impression on the replacing language (known as the [[superstratum]]) when people [[language transfer|retain features]] of the substratum as they learn the new language and pass these features on to their children, which leads to the development of a new variety. For example, the Latin that came to replace local languages in present-day [[France]] during [[Ancient Rome]] times was influenced by [[Gaulish]] and [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]. The distinct pronunciation of the [[Hiberno-English]] dialect, spoken in [[Ireland]], comes partially from the influence of the substratum of [[Irish language|Irish]]. Outside the [[Indo-European]] family, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], the last stage of ancient [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], is a substratum of [[Egyptian Arabic]]. === Creation of new languages: creolization and mixed languages === {{Main|Pidgin|Mixed language|Creole language}} Language contact can also lead to the development of new languages when people without a common language interact closely. Resulting from this contact a [[pidgin]] may develop, which may eventually become a full-fledged [[creole language]] through the process of creolization (though some linguists assert that a creole need not emerge from a pidgin). Prime examples of this are [[Ndyuka language|Aukan]] and [[Saramaccan]], spoken in [[Suriname]], which have vocabulary mainly from Portuguese, English and Dutch. A much rarer but still observed process, according to some linguists, is the formation of [[mixed language]]s. Whereas creoles are formed by communities lacking a common language, mixed languages are formed by communities fluent in both languages. They tend to inherit much more of the complexity (grammatical, phonological, etc.) of their parent languages, whereas creoles begin as simple languages and then develop in complexity more independently. It is sometimes explained as bilingual communities that no longer identify with the cultures of either of the languages they speak, and seek to develop their own language as an expression of their own cultural uniqueness. === Dialectal and sub-cultural change === Some forms of language contact affect only a particular segment of a speech community. Consequently, change may be manifested only in particular [[dialects]], [[jargon]]s, or [[speech register|registers]]. [[South African English]], for example, has been significantly affected by [[Afrikaans]] in terms of [[lexis (linguistics)|lexis]] and [[pronunciation]], but the other dialects of English have remained almost totally unaffected by Afrikaans other than a few loanwords.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} In some cases, a language develops an [[acrolect]] that contains elements of a more prestigious language. For example, in [[England]] during a large part of the [[Middle Ages]], upper-class speech was dramatically influenced by [[Norman language|Norman]] to the point that it often resembled a dialect.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} The broader study of contact varieties within a society is called [[linguistic ecology]].<ref>See, for example, Mufwene, Salikoko S. The ecology of language evolution. Cambridge University Press, 2001.</ref>
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