Overview

"Extremely isolated communities offer ""laboratory conditions"" for examining the processes of language change and dialect formation. This book presents findings of ethnographic fieldwork on the most remote island in the world with a permanent population, Tristan da Cunha. It documents the historical formation of a unique local dialect and investigates the sociolinguistic mechanisms that underlie dialect contact and new dialect formation. It also uncovers the linguistic consequences of post insularity language change processes as a result of increasing contacts with other communities and speakers. Researchers and students of language variation will find this book a unique resource."

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9781403904072

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.,. convincing and well-written, very up-to-date, and highlights both theoretically, and with empirically tested examples, the importance of this small community's dialect to our understanding of language change. --David Britain, University of Essex<br> It's hard to imagine a sociolinguistic situation more intriguing than Tristan da Cunha. Its unique settlement history and subsequent isolation make it an ideal setting for considering critical issues related to founder effects, language contact influence, and innovation. This is a captivating study, told with the perfect blend of sociolinguistic sophistication and human interest. --Walt Wolfram, North Carolina State University<br>

Author Information

DANIEL SCHREIER is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Regensburg, Germany. He has published extensively on contact linguistics and new-dialect formation and has taught and lectured in Switzerland, the USA and in New Zealand.

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