What is it about?
Language contact involves the merging of multiple linguistic systems as a result of large scale human contact, e.g. migration, slavery, war, colonialism, trade, etc. This volume explores language contact between African and European languages on the African continent and in the Americas that came about largely as a result of slavery and colonialism.
Why is it important?
Language contact between African and European languages has resulted in a large number of new languages in Africa and the Americas that blend features from multiple codes. Linguists are piecing together the linguistic roots of these new languages and analyzing how demographic, language developmental, and cultural factors affect their structures. This volume shows how important it is to know as much as possible about these factors in order to make generalizations about language contact and understand how new languages emerge.