Joanne Yager
Small-scale multilingualism and language contact in egalitarian foragers
2020 | 244 p. | English

ISBN: 978-91-88899-73-6, 978-91-88899-74-3

Multilingualism and language contact in small-scale, egalitarian contexts are important phenomena affecting processes of language change throughout human history, yet our understanding of the outcomes of multilingualism and language contact in this kind of setting remains limited. This thesis provides insight into the linguistic consequences of interaction between closely-related, recently-described language varieties in small-scale egalitarian contexts, and works to overcome some of the methodological challenges associated with the study of language contact and multilingualism in this kind of setting. In four studies, the thesis provides the first linguistic description of the newly dis-covered Aslian (Austroasiatic) language variety Jedek, and investigates lexical and semantic outcomes of multilingualism and language contact in egalitarian foragers speaking the closely-related language varieties Jedek and Jahai in northern Peninsular Malaysia. The findings highlight the value of research in lesser-known linguistic settings for advancing our theories of multilingualism and language contact.