Abstract
To date, few attempts have been made to systematically examine which kinds of changes are likely to arise due to contact between related languages, though one might suspect that their structural similarities make them particularly susceptible to contact-induced change. The main challenge is to establish, retrospectively, whether features shared by neighbouring, related varieties are the result of prolonged contact, rather than jointly inherited. By identifying changes triggered by a recently established contact situation, we can gain insights into what can or is likely to be borrowed between related languages Based on fieldwork undertaken in Castellón de la Plana, a Spanish town with a large Romanian migrant population, the present study shows that transfer between the two locally spoken Ibero-Romance varieties and Romanian is rampant at virtually all levels of linguistic description, a fact that should encourage us to be keep an open mind regarding the origin of structural similarities among related languages.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 331-354 |
| Journal | Revue Roumaine de Linguistique |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2012 |
Keywords
- Language contact
- Related languages
- Romanian
- Spanish
- Structural transfer
- Valencian (Catalan)