ABSTRACT
When languages come into contact, functionally equivalent elements from both languages come into competition. What determines whether one elements ‘wins’ or disappears, or is functionally re-purposed, or exists alongside the equivalent element from the other language to double-mark a function? This chapter outlines some of the ways in which typology shapes the resultant structures of languages in contact. Two major themes emerge from the typological literature. Constraints on the ability of words or morphemes to transfer from one language to another are attributed to either (1) the absolute transferability of a morpheme, or (2) the typological congruence between the languages in contact.
