Hainan Cham, Anong, and Eastern Cham: Three languages, three social contexts, three patterns of change

Abstract

Three separate languages are examined, each with a different sociolinguistic setting, and with each setting leading to a different pattern of grammatical change. The paper sketches the grammar changes and documents the associated social settings: specifically, how the language in question is used and whether outsiders are speaking the language. The paper supports the general conclusion (e.g., by Thomason & Kaufman) that the most important factors in contact-induced change are social ones but more interestingly and more specifically, in regard to these three languages, it deals which sociolinguistic contexts for language correlate with the three quite distinct sets of outcomes.