Migration and Dialect Contact

Abstract

A great deal of research during the past 40 years and earlier investigates the outcomes of large-scale contact between mutually intelligible dialects. In the context of well-established types of dialect convergence, this article summarizes research from the past 10 years on migration-induced dialect contact. I devote particular attention to ongoing dialect contact in the urban settings of London, England; São Paulo, Brazil; Xining, China; Amman, Jordan; and New York City, United States. In all cases, the data show evidence of the expected process of dialect leveling, but linguistic innovations emerging from dialect contact are also prominent. Social network and identity factors are predicted to define much future dialect contact research.