sprachbund
Sign in to saveAlso known as linguistic area, area of linguistic convergence, diffusion area, language crossroads
A sprachbund ( , from , 'language federation'; or sprachbunds), also known as a linguistic area, area of linguistic convergence, or diffusion area, is a group of languages that share areal features resulting from geographical proximity and language contact. The languages may be genetically unrelated, or only distantly related, but the sprachbund characteristics might give a false appearance of relatedness.
Wikidata facts
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Sprachbunds
- Stack Exchange tag
- linguistics.stackexchange.com/tags/sprachbund
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Article
11 sectionsContents
- History
- Examples
- The Balkans
- Mainland Southeast Asia
- Indian subcontinent
- Northeast Asia
- Europe
- Others
- Proposed examples
- See also
- References
A sprachbund ( , from , 'language federation'; or sprachbunds), also known as a linguistic area, area of linguistic convergence, or diffusion area, is a group of languages that share areal features resulting from geographical proximity and language contact. The languages may be genetically unrelated, or only distantly related, but the sprachbund characteristics might give a false appearance of relatedness.
A grouping of languages that share features can only be defined as a sprachbund if the features are shared for some reason other than the genetic history of the languages. Without knowledge of the history of a regional group of similar languages, it may be difficult to determine whether sharing indicates a language family or a sprachbund.