The second edition of the definitive reference on contact studies and linguistic change—provides extensive new research and original case studies

Language contact is a dynamic area of contemporary linguistic research that studies how language changes when speakers of different languages interact. Accessibly structured into three sections, The Handbook of Language Contact explores the role of contact studies within the field of linguistics, the value of contact studies for language change research, and the relevance of language contact for sociolinguistics. This authoritative volume presents original findings and fresh research directions from an international team of prominent experts. Thirty-seven specially-commissioned chapters cover a broad range of topics and case studies of contact from around the world. 

Now in its second edition, this valuable reference has been extensively updated with new chapters on topics including globalization, language acquisition, creolization, code-switching, and genetic classification. Fresh case studies examine Romance, Indo-European, African, Mayan, and many other languages in both the past and the present. Addressing the major issues in the field of language contact studies, this volume: 

• Includes a representative sample of individual studies which re-evaluate the role of language contact in the broader context of language and society
• Offers 23 new chapters written by leading scholars
• Examines language contact in different societies, including many in Africa and Asia
• Provides a cross-section of case studies drawing on languages across the world

The Handbook of Language Contact, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for researchers, scholars, and students involved in language contact, language variation and change, sociolinguistics, bilingualism, and language theory.

“This book (in its second edition) brings together a considerable amount of knowledge on the subject of language contact. Inasmuch as topics range from methodological discussions on contacts in prehistoric languages to urban sociolinguistics, the diversity of the methodological approaches and the extent of the phenomena covered are very impressive.” -- Emmanuel Schang, University of Orléans for LINGUIST List 32.2117, June 2021

Raymond Hickey is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Duisburg and Essen, Department of Anglophone Studies, Germany. His main areas of research are varieties of English, focused on Irish English, and general questions of language contact, shift, and change. He has written several books, including Listening to the Past, Audio Records of Accents of English (2017), Sociolinguistics in Ireland (2016), and A Dictionary of Varieties of English (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), and has published numerous articles on various issues within linguistics, as well as producing an electronic corpus of Irish English.