LANGUAGE SHIFT

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 562 words | Copyright

LANGUAGE SHIFT. A term in LINGUISTICS for a massive shift in use from one language to another, as in Ireland from GAELIC to English (18–20c). In 1964, the US linguist Joshua A. Fishman introduced the dual notion language maintenance and language shift (LMLS) to discuss the situation of ‘the minority language or small national language faced by pressures related to a much bigger national or international language’. To the latter, of which English is the pre-eminent example, he has given the name language of wider communication (LWC).

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TOM McARTHUR. "LANGUAGE SHIFT." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "LANGUAGE SHIFT." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LANGUAGESHIFT.html

TOM McARTHUR. "LANGUAGE SHIFT." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LANGUAGESHIFT.html

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