Language Attrition

Key Topics in Sociolinguistics

by Monika S. Schmid

'Language attrition' describes the loss of, or changes to, grammatical and other features of a language as a result of declining use by speakers who have changed their linguistic environment and language habits. In such a situation there may, for example, be simplification in the tense system or in certain properties of subordinate clauses; some vocabulary items might fall into disuse and phonetic features may be restructured. These changes can be affected by features of the speaker's environment, but also by his or her attitudes and processes of identification. This book provides a detailed and up-to-date introduction to the way in which language attrition can affect language, as well as to the extra- and sociolinguistic features involved. It also familiarizes the reader with experimental approaches to attrition and data analysis techniques and provides hands-on guidelines on how to apply them.

Genres: Linguistics

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't rate books that I've read for uni, but I enjoyed this too much not to. It's aimed not only at those interested in linguistics but those who actually want to do research into language attrition, which makes it pretty dense, but I would actually recommend it to anyone who has experienced language attrition (i.e. a loss of fluency in one's first language because of a new language reality with a second (or third, etc.) language). It made me able to voice an experience that I couldn't describe before, which is important in any aspect of life.