sprogkontakt

Sprogkontakt, or language contact, is a concept in linguistics describing the interaction of two or more languages within a speech community. It occurs when languages are used in overlapping social domains and speakers experience bilingualism or multilingualism, creating opportunities for mutual influence.

During sprogkontakt, languages can borrow vocabulary and expressions (loanwords), form calques, influence pronunciation and rhythm, and, less commonly, affect syntax and morphology. In many communities, speakers alternate between languages in the same conversation or even within a single sentence, a phenomenon often called codeswitching or language switching.

Outcomes of language contact range from stable bilingualism with limited transfer to substantial change in one or both languages. Borrowing may accumulate over generations; in some cases a dominant language contributes to language shift or even language replacement. In certain contact settings, pidgins and creoles may emerge as simplified means of communication between groups with no shared language.

Factors shaping sprogkontakt include the social status of the languages, attitudes of speakers, institutional support or repression, domain of use (home, school, media), and the amount and nature of contact. Researchers use methods from sociolinguistics and contact linguistics, including comparative analysis of corpora, interviews, and historical documentation, to map transfer patterns and their social implications.

The study of sprogkontakt covers many language pairs worldwide and informs understanding of language change, multilingual society dynamics, and language policy.