ABSTRACT
The term koineization refers to a process of mixing of dialects (or mutually intelligible varieties of language) which leads to the rapid formation of a new dialect or koine, characterized by mixing, levelling and simplification of features found in the dialects which formed part of the original mix. Koineization generally occurs over the course of three generations (including first-generation adults during the ‘pre-koine’) and is often found in new towns, frontier regions and colonies which have seen sudden in-migration followed by the establishment of a permanent community. This chapter discusses the origins of the terms and concepts koine and koineization, typical types of linguistic change associated with koine formation, the social conditions and speaker behaviour which lead to those changes, and the time scale of koineization, or focusing.
