# Areal feature > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Areal_feature > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Areal_feature.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areal_feature > Source revision: 1339865158 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Linguistic feature arising through language contact rather than common descent}} In [geolinguistics](/source/geolinguistics), '''areal features''' are elements shared by languages or [dialect](/source/dialect)s in a geographic area,{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/areal |title=etymonline.com: areal (adj.) }} particularly when such features are not descended from a common ancestor or [proto-language](/source/proto-language). An areal feature is contrasted with [genetic relationship](/source/Genetic_relationship_(linguistics)) determined similarity within the same [language family](/source/language_family). Features may diffuse from one dominant language to neighbouring languages (see "[sprachbund](/source/sprachbund)"). Genetic relationships are represented in the [family tree model](/source/Tree_model) of language change, and areal relationships are represented in the [wave model](/source/Wave_model_(linguistics)). ==Characteristics== Resemblances between two or more languages (whether in typology or in vocabulary) have been observed to result from several mechanisms, including lingual genealogical relation (descent from a common ancestor language, not principally related to biological genetics); [borrowing](/source/Loanword) between languages; [retention of features](/source/Stratum_(linguistics)) when a population adopts a new language; and chance coincidence. When little or no direct documentation of ancestor languages is available, determining whether the similarity is genetic or merely areal can be difficult. [Edward Sapir](/source/Edward_Sapir) notably used evidence of contact and diffusion as a negative tool for genetic reconstruction, treating it as a subject in its own right only at the end of his career (e.g., for the influence of [Tibetan](/source/Tibetan_languages) on [Tocharian](/source/Tocharian_languages)).Drechsel, Emanuel J. (1988). "Wilhelm von Humboldt and Edward Sapir: analogies and homologies in their linguistic thoughts", in {{Cite book | editor-last = Shipley | editor-first = William | title = In Honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival Conference on Native American Linguistics | publisher = de Gruyter Mouton | date = December 1988 | location = the Hague | pages = 826 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GNHjuqXiIJMC&pg=PA644 | isbn =978-3-11-011165-1}} p. 254. == Major models == [William Labov](/source/William_Labov) in 2007 reconciled the tree and wave models in a general framework based on differences between children and adults in their language learning ability. Adults do not preserve structural features with sufficient regularity to establish a norm in their community, but children do. Linguistic features are diffused across an area by contacts among adults. Languages branch into dialects and thence into related languages through small changes in the course of children's learning processes which accumulate over generations, and when speech communities do not communicate (frequently) with each other, these cumulative changes diverge. {{Cite journal | last = Labov | first = William | title = Transmission and diffusion | journal = Language | volume = 83 | issue = 2 | pages = 344–387 | year = 2007 | url = http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/Papers/TD.pdf | doi = 10.1353/lan.2007.0082 | access-date = 18 Aug 2010| citeseerx = 10.1.1.705.7860 }} Diffusion of areal features for the most part hinges on low-level phonetic shifts, whereas tree-model transmission includes in addition structural factors such as "grammatical conditioning, word boundaries, and the systemic relations that drive chain shifting".Labov 2007:6. == Sprachbund == In some areas with high linguistic diversity, a number of areal features have spread across a set of languages to form a [sprachbund](/source/sprachbund) (also known as a linguistic area, convergence area or diffusion area). Some examples are the [Balkan sprachbund](/source/Balkan_sprachbund),{{cite book | contribution = One Grammar, Three Lexicons: Ideological Overtones and Underpinnings in the Balkan Sprachbund | first = Victor A. | last = Friedman | title = Papers from the 33rd Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society | publisher = Chicago Linguistic Society | year = 1997 | url = http://humstatic.uchicago.edu/slavic/archived/papers/Friedman-LgIdeologyCLS33.pdf}}{{cite journal | title = After 170 years of Balkan Linguistics: Whither the Millennium? | first = Victor A. | last = Friedman | journal = Mediterranean Language Review | volume = 12 | year = 2000 | pages = 1–15 | url = http://humstatic.uchicago.edu/slavic/archived/papers/Friedman-170yrsbalkanling.pdf}} [Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area](/source/Mainland_Southeast_Asia_linguistic_area),{{cite journal | title = Areal Linguistics and Mainland Southeast Asia | first = N. J. | last = Enfield | journal = Annual Review of Anthropology | volume = 34 | issue = 1 | year = 2005 | pages = 181–206 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120406 | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-167B-C | url = http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:57458:2/component/escidoc:57459/Enfield_2005_areal.pdf | hdl-access = free }} and the languages of the [Indian subcontinent](/source/Indian_subcontinent).{{cite journal | last = Emeneau | first = Murray | year = 1956 | title = India as a Linguistic Area | journal = Language | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–16 | doi=10.2307/410649 | jstor = 410649}} ==Examples== {{original research|section|date=September 2018}} ===Phonetics and phonology=== * Development of a three-[tone](/source/Tone_(linguistics)) system with no tones in words ending in -''p'', -''t'', -''k'', followed by a [tone split](/source/Mainland_Southeast_Asia_linguistic_area), and many other phonetic similarities in the [Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area](/source/Mainland_Southeast_Asia_linguistic_area). * [Retroflex consonants](/source/Retroflex_consonants) in the [Burushaski](/source/Burushaski),Berger, H. Die Burushaski-Sprache von Hunza und Nagar. Vols. I-III. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 1988{{cite book |last1=Tikkanen |first1=Bertil |editor1-last=Blench |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Spriggs |editor2-first=Matthew |title=Archaeology and language |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9780203208793 |chapter=Archaeological-linguistic correlations in the formation of retroflex typologies and correlating areal features in South Asia |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256370174_Archaeological-linguistic_correlations_in_the_formation_of_retroflex_typologies_and_correlating_areal_features_in_South_Asia }} [Nuristani](/source/Nuristani_languages),G. Morgenstierne, Irano-Dardica. Wiesbaden 1973 [Dravidian](/source/Dravidian_languages), [Munda](/source/Munda_languages),The Munda Languages. Edited by Gregory D. S. Anderson. London and New York: Routledge (Routledge Language Family Series), 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-415-32890-6}} and [Indo-Aryan](/source/Indo-Aryan_languages) families of [South Asia](/source/South_Asia). * The occurrence of [click consonant](/source/click_consonant)s in several languages of Southern Africa, including a few Bantu languages * The lack of [fricatives](/source/fricative_consonant) in [Australian languages](/source/Australian_languages). * The use of [ejective](/source/ejective_consonants) and [aspirated](/source/aspirated_consonant) consonants in the [languages of the Caucasus](/source/languages_of_the_Caucasus). * The prevalence of [ejective](/source/ejective_consonant) and [lateral fricative](/source/lateral_fricative)s and [affricates](/source/lateral_affricate) in the Pacific Northwest of North America. * The development of a [close front rounded vowel](/source/close_front_rounded_vowel) in the [Bearnese dialect](/source/Bearnese_dialect) of [Occitan](/source/Occitan_language) and the [Souletin dialect](/source/Souletin_dialect) of [Basque](/source/Basque_language). * The absence of {{IPAblink|w}} and presence of {{IPAblink|v}} in many languages of [Central](/source/Central_Europe) and [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe). * The lack of [nasal consonants](/source/nasal_consonants) in languages of the [Puget Sound](/source/Puget_Sound) and the [Olympic Peninsula](/source/Olympic_Peninsula). * The absence of {{IPAblink|p}} but presence of {{IPAblink|b}} and {{IPAblink|f}} in many languages of [Northern Africa](/source/Northern_Africa) and the [Arabian Peninsula](/source/Arabian_Peninsula). * The presence of a voicing contrast on fricatives e.g. {{IPAblink|s}} vs {{IPAblink|z}} in [Europe](/source/Europe) and [Southwestern Asia](/source/Southwestern_Asia). * An [isogloss](/source/isogloss) between dialects with and without phonemic [/y/](/source/close_front_rounded_vowel) in Europe cutting across the boundary between Romance and Germanic [dialect continua](/source/dialect_continuum). ===Morphophonology=== * Vowel alternation patterns in reduplicatives.{{cite journal |last1=Ido |first1=Shinji |date=2011 |title=Vowel alternation in disyllabic reduplicatives |url=https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/jeful/article/view/jeful.2011.2.1.12/10282 |journal=Eesti ja Soome-Ugri Keeleteaduse Ajakiri |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=185–193 |doi=10.12697/jeful.2011.2.1.12|doi-access=free }} ===Morphology=== ===Syntax=== * The tendency in much of Europe to use a transitive verb (e.g. "I have") for possession, rather than a [possessive dative](/source/Dative_case) construction such as ''mihi est'' (Latin: 'to me is') which is more likely the original possessive construction in [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language), considering the lack of a common root for "have" verbs.[https://books.google.com/books?id=X8UOAAAAQAAJ&pg= Winfred Philipp Lehmann, ''Historical Linguistics: An Introduction'', Routledge, 1992, p. 170] * The development of a [perfect aspect](/source/perfect_aspect) using "have" + past participle in many European languages (Romance, Germanic, etc.). (The Latin ''habeo'' and Germanic ''haben'' used for this and the previous point are not in fact etymologically related.) * A [perfect aspect](/source/perfect_aspect) using "be" + past participle for intransitive and reflexive verbs (with participle agreement), present in French, Italian, German, older Spanish and Portuguese, and in older stages of English, only surviving in more archaic phrases like "I am become death, destroyer of worlds" and "The kingdom of this world is become". * Postposed [article](/source/Article_(grammar)), avoidance of the [infinitive](/source/infinitive), merging of [genitive](/source/genitive) and [dative](/source/dative), and [superessive](/source/Superessive_case) [number](/source/grammatical_number) formation in some languages of the [Balkans](/source/Balkans). * The spread of a [verb-final word order](/source/subject%E2%80%93object%E2%80%93verb) to the [Austronesian languages](/source/Austronesian_languages) of [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea). * A system of classifiers/measure words in the [Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area](/source/Mainland_Southeast_Asia_linguistic_area). ===Sociolinguistics=== * The use of the plural pronoun as a polite word for ''you'' in much of Europe (the [''tu-vous'' distinction](/source/T%E2%80%93V_distinction)). ==See also== *[Comparative method](/source/Comparative_method) *[Language contact](/source/Language_contact) *[Linguistic typology](/source/Linguistic_typology) *[Linkage (linguistics)](/source/Linkage_(linguistics)) *[Mass comparison](/source/Mass_comparison) *[Wave model](/source/Wave_model) *[World Atlas of Language Structures](/source/World_Atlas_of_Language_Structures) ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== *[Abbi, Anvita](/source/Anvita_Abbi). (1992). ''Reduplication in South Asian Languages: An Areal, Typological, and Historical Study''. India: Allied Publishers. *Blevins, Juliette. (2017). Areal sound patterns: From perceptual magnets to stone soup. In R. Hickey (Ed.), ''The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics'' (pp. 88–121). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * {{Cite book | author = Campbell, Lyle | author-link = Lyle Campbell | editor1-first = Yaron | editor1-last = Matras | editor2-first = April | editor2-last = McMahon | editor3-first = Nigel | editor3-last = Vincent | title = Linguistic areas: Convergence in historical and typological perspective | chapter = Areal linguistics: A closer scrutiny | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2006 | location = Basingstoke | pages = 1–31 | chapter-url = http://www.hum.utah.edu/linguistics/Faculty/oldFacultyPages/campbell/Areal_Linguistics_short.doc | access-date = 2016-10-17 | archive-date = 2011-07-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716085016/http://www.hum.utah.edu/linguistics/Faculty/oldFacultyPages/campbell/Areal_Linguistics_short.doc | url-status = dead }} * {{Cite book | last = Campbell | first = Lyle | editor-first = Keith | editor-last = Brown | title = Encyclopedia of language and linguistics | edition = 2nd | chapter = Areal linguistics | publisher = Elsevier | year = 2006 | location = Oxford | pages = 1.455–460 | chapter-url = http://www.linguistics.utah.edu/Faculty/oldFacultyPages/campbell/CampbellArealLingEnc.doc | access-date = 2010-09-25 | archive-date = 2012-03-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120313032531/http://www.linguistics.utah.edu/Faculty/oldFacultyPages/campbell/CampbellArealLingEnc.doc | url-status = dead }} *Chappell, Hilary. (2001). Language contact and areal diffusion in Sinitic languages. In A. Y. Aikhenvald & R. M. W. Dixon (Eds.), ''Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative Linguistics'' (pp. 328–357). Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Enfield, N. J. (2005). Areal Linguistics and Mainland Southeast Asia. ''Annual Review of Anthropology, 34'', 181–206. *{{Cite book | last = Haas | first = Mary R. | title = Language, culture, and history, essays by Mary R. Haas, selected and introduced by Anwar S. Dil | publisher = Stanford University Press | year = 1978 | location = Stanford }} *{{Cite book | last = Haas | first = Mary R. | title = Prehistory of Languages | publisher = de Gruyter Mouton | date = June 1978 | location = The Hague | pages = 120 | isbn =978-90-279-0681-6}} *{{Cite book | editor-last = Hickey | editor-first = Raymond | title = The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 2017 | location = Cambridge}} *Kirby, James & Brunelle, Marc. (2017). Southeast Asian Tone in Areal Perspective. In R. Hickey (Ed.), ''The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics'' (pp. 703–731). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *[Matisoff, J. A](/source/James_Matisoff). (1999). Tibeto-Burman tonology in an areal context. In ''Proceedings of the symposium Crosslinguistic studies of tonal phenomena: Tonogenesis, Japanese Accentology, and Other Topics'' (pp. 3–31). Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa. {{DEFAULTSORT:Areal Feature}} Category:Sprachbund Category:Language geography --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Areal feature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areal_feature) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areal_feature?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.