Evolution

Languages are constantly changing. New words are added to the English language every year, either borrowed or coined, and there is often railing against the 'decline' of the language by public figures. Some languages, such as French and Finnish, have academies to protect them against foreign imports. Yet languages are species-like constructs, which evolve naturally over time. Migration, imperialism, and globalization have blurred boundaries between many of them, producing new ones (such as creoles) and driving some to extinction.This book examines the processes by which languages change, from the macroecological perspective of competition and natural selection. In a series of chapters, Salikoko Mufwene examines such themes - natural selection in language- the actuation question and the invisible hand that drives evolution- multilingualism and language contact- language birth and language death- the emergence of Creoles and Pidgins- the varying impacts of colonization and globalization on language vitalityThis comprehensive examination of the organic evolution of language will be essential reading for graduate and senior undergraduate students, and for researchers on the social dynamics of language variation and change, language vitality and death, and even the origins of linguistic diversity.

This book considers how and why forms and meanings of different languages at different times may resemble one another. Its editors and authors aim to explain and identify the relationship between areal diffusion and the genetic development of languages, and to discover the means of distinguishing what may cause one language to share the characteristics of another.

You might find "Language Evolution: Contact, Competition and Change" fascinating if you're intrigued by the concept that languages develop much like living species, adapting and changing through natural selection. Salikoko Mufwene sails through themes such as linguistic diversity, the impact of colonization on language, and the phenomena of language birth and death. It's a deep dive into the linguistic consequences of human societal shifts, perfect for enriching your understanding of the fluid nature of language in our ever-globalizing world.