Graphic Collisions: Languages in Contact

Abstract

The problems of bilingualism and of languages in contact are ones which are best studied in an interdisciplinary context. Languages "collide" in many different ways and for many different reasons. The "collision" or contacts (and the resulting conflicts) can take place for historical, political, social, cultural, and economic reasons, or simply because the source language has become fashionable. They can take place within the boundaries of a single country, often a former colony of the "mother" country, or between such geographically distant countries as the United States and Japan. Just as the contexts of language content can vary, so can the types of contact, whether it be interference, integration, or code-switching.