Reallocation

How new forms arise from contact

Bibliographic Data

ID4975815
AuthorsCristopher Font‐santiago (0009-0008-3929-0080, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez), Mirva Johnson (0000-0001-6603-7816, University of Wisconsin–Madison), Joseph Salmons (0000-0003-3491-0443, University of Wisconsin–Madison, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume16
Issue8
Publication date2022-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage and Linguistics Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-818X • E-ISSN: 1749-818X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lnc3.12470
OpenAlexW4293749211
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited40

In the last 35 years, 'reallocation' has come to be widely used to describe how structural linguistic features in contact settings may remain as part of a new language variety and take on new functions as sociolinguistic variables rather than be lost over time, as is typically expected in koineization contexts. Classic examples involve originally regional differences that come to carry social, grammatical, or stylistic rather than regional meanings. We define and illustrate reallocation and then explore how it has been used in different ways and applied to various contact settings. Along the way, we also put reallocation into the context of notions like focussing and accommodation, and observe a shift from looking at dialect contact to language contact as a trigger of reallocation. Reallocation increasingly connects with enregisterment, and we consider these notions in cultural as well as strictly linguistic terms. We conclude briefly with paths for future investigation

Accommodation · Archaeology · Language contact · Linguistics · Social contact · Sociology · Communication · Computer Science · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy · Psychology · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies · Artificial Intelligence

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