Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps Volume I
- Figures Volume I
- Tables Volume I
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One Language Contact and Genetic Linguistics
- Part Two Linguistic Areas
- Part Three Language Spread
- Part Four Emergence and Spread of Some European Languages
- Part Five Language Diasporas
- 19 Diasporas: An Overview
- 20 Labor Migrations: Language Change in Communities and Diasporas
- 21 The Korean Diaspora
- 22 The Chinese Diaspora: Language Maintenance and Loss
- 23 The Diachrony of Yiddish and Judaeo-Spanish as Contact Languages
- Author Index
- Language Index
- Subject Index
- References
20 - Labor Migrations: Language Change in Communities and Diasporas
from Part Five - Language Diasporas
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 June 2022
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps Volume I
- Figures Volume I
- Tables Volume I
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One Language Contact and Genetic Linguistics
- Part Two Linguistic Areas
- Part Three Language Spread
- Part Four Emergence and Spread of Some European Languages
- Part Five Language Diasporas
- 19 Diasporas: An Overview
- 20 Labor Migrations: Language Change in Communities and Diasporas
- 21 The Korean Diaspora
- 22 The Chinese Diaspora: Language Maintenance and Loss
- 23 The Diachrony of Yiddish and Judaeo-Spanish as Contact Languages
- Author Index
- Language Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
Co-work of laborers of different languages occurred since ancient times. Postulates for one “national” language usually stem from members of a dominant culture. Labor as well as elite migrations over time and across regions of different, but related languages led to shared composite languages. This was the case of the Roman language, while the Ottoman one was an intended neutral overlay; in the Balkans transhumant herders provided connections, as did merchants, traders, and transport and artisanal workers in Southeast Asia. From the nineteenth-century emergence of “national” cultures and, subsequently, of virulent nationalisms in Europe, imposition of the respective majority language became an aspect of national ideologies. Home-state demands for language retention were counterproductive to the economic and cultural interests of most emigrants making their home in a new language environment. Their language adaptation depended on intended length of stay, interaction with “native” speakers, and language brokers facilitating linguistic transitions. Forced labor migrants, like African-origin slaves in the Americas, had to develop common idioms under duress; many had experiences with trader communities’ linguae francae. Labor migrants did not simply adapt to the language of the receiving society but they influenced the majoritarian languages.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Language ContactVolume 1: Population Movement and Language Change, pp. 641 - 669Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022