Morphology and Contact-Induced Language Change

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a wide range of phenomena occurring under the heading of contact-induced morphological change, including several degrees of morphological integration, non-integration ($qua$ indeclinability or maintenance of original markers), and borrowing. It also discusses three major types of mechanisms leading to morphological borrowing: ‘macro-mechanisms’ are general psycholinguistic mechanisms of transfer conceived in terms of source language vs. recipient language agentivity; ‘meso-mechanisms’ are conscious and unconscious techniques which are responsible for contact-induced language change, such as ‘Trojan horse structures’; ‘micro-mechanisms’ are local, concrete mechanisms, such as reborrowing and reanalysis. Cross-linguistic data are presented and discussed in light of the implications that contact-induced morphological change has for the theory of morphology.