"Every language has been influenced in some way by other languages. In many cases, this is reflected in words which have been absorbed from other languages as the names for newer items or ideas, such as perestroika, manga or intifada (from Russian, Japanese and Arabic respectively). In other cases, the influence of other languages goes further, and includes the addition of new sounds, grammatical forms and idioms to the pre-existing language. English's structure has been shaped in such a way by the effects of Norse, French, Latin and Celtic. English is not alone in its openness to these influences. Potentially any features can be transferred from one language to another if the sociolinguistic and structural circumstances are right. New languages -pidgins, creoles and mixed languages- can come into being as the result of language contact. This book examines the various forms of contact-induced linguistic change and the levels of language which have provided instances of these influences. In addition it provides accounts of how language contact has affected some twenty languages, spoken and signed, from all parts of the world. Each chapter is written by experts, in many cases native speakers of the language in question, each with many years of studying and analysing the field. Drawing on the most up-to-date work on relevant language an themes, this book is an invaluable account of the possibilities and products of contact-induced linguistic change"--