language shift

[Richard Valovics]

One case I know of  that may be an instance of type 2 language
shift is the shift from Slavonic to Hungarian of Slavonic peoples
when Hungarian tribes conquered the territory of present day
Hungary. As far I can tell, the shift took place quite swiftly.
As for morphological complexity of the languages in question, there
is no doubt that contemporay Hungarian is morphologically more
complex than contemporary Slavonic languages. However, the
difference 1100 years ago may not have been so pronounced since
Old-Slavonic seems to have been more complex than its
descendants whereas Old-Hungarian seems to have been less
complex than its successor.
Best regards

Date sent:      	Fri, 21 Mar 2003 15:45:34 +0900
Send reply to:  	Tasaku Tsunoda <tsunoda at TOOYOO.L.U-
TOKYO.AC.JP>
From:           	Tasaku Tsunoda <tsunoda at TOOYOO.L.U-
TOKYO.AC.JP>
Subject:        	language shift
To:             	LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG

> 21 March 2003
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>     Re: Language shift and morphological complexity
>
>    I am writing to seek your advice.
>
>    In general, the causes for language shift are extra-linguistic, such as
> economic and political factors. But I am interested to know if there is
> any correlation between language shift and morphological complexity.
>    There are at least two directions of language shift:
>    (1) from a more complex language to a simpler one
>    (2) from a simpler one to a more complex one
> Most instances of language shift appear to be of Type (1), e.g. a shift
> from Scottish Gaelic to English, and from an Australian Aboriginal
> language to English. It seems that, in language shift situations
> throughout the word, the target language is (almost always ?)
> morphologically the simpler, e.g. English in Scotland and Australia, and
> Spanish in South America.
>
>    Now, my questions are the following.
>
> Question 1
>    Are there any attested instances of Type (2) ? Are there any references
>    ?
>
> Question 2
>    If (2) is attested, then are attested instances of Type (1) more
>    numerous
> than those of Type (2) ? That is, is there any correlation between (i) the
> frequency of language shift and (ii) morphological complexity ? (I would
> imagine that (1) would be more common than (2).) Are there any references
> ?
>
> Question 3
>    If (2) is attested, then does Type (1) progress faster than Type (2) ?
> That is, is there any correlation between (i) the speed of language shift
> and (ii) morphological complexity ? (I would imagine that (1) progresses
> faster than (2).) Are there any references ?
>
>    I look forward to receiving your advice.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Tasaku Tsunoda
>
> --
> Tasaku Tsunoda
> Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology
> University of Tokyo
> Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
>
> Phone: +81-3-5841-3790
> Fax:   +81-3-5803-2784
>


Richard Valovics
University of Education, Denmark
Skelagervej 313
DK-8200 Aarhus
Tel.: +45-86 10 96 16
Mobile: +45-61 67 02 53