ABSTRACT
Pidgins, creoles and other contact languages of South and Southeast Asia are as genetically diverse as they are typologically interesting. European-based contact languages in South and Southeast Asia include a substantial number of Portuguese-based ones, and a smaller number of Spanish-, English-, Dutch-, and French-based ones. Also significant are the non-European-based contact languages, such as the Malay-based ones and those entailing other mixtures. This chapter provides an overview of these languages, focusing in particular on the fact that many of the languages reported in earlier studies are no longer viable, and that a high proportion of the contact languages that are still spoken are in fact moribund and threatened.
