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Language in Isolation, and Its Implications for Variation and Change
Author(s) -
Schreier Daniel
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
language and linguistics compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.619
H-Index - 44
ISSN - 1749-818X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2009.00130.x
Subject(s) - conceptualization , variation (astronomy) , isolation (microbiology) , language change , linguistics , obsolescence , phenomenon , language contact , identity (music) , sociology , epistemology , philosophy , aesthetics , biology , paleontology , physics , astrophysics , microbiology and biotechnology
This article discusses some approaches to the conceptualization of isolation in sociolinguistic research. It argues that isolation is a multifaceted phenomenon with geographic, social and attitudinal implications. Based on evidence from geographically isolated speech communities (mostly islands) and socially isolated ones (so‐called Sprachinseln ) from around the world, it discusses their potential for variation and change studies, both in terms of synchrony (contact phenomena, language obsolescence or revival and intensification, language and identity, etc.) and diachrony, because they provide showcase scenarios to look into and reconstruct mechanisms of contact linguistics (e.g. new‐dialect formation), founder effects, colonial lag, etc.