Nahuatl: Unbalanced Language Contact and the Struggle for Survival

What is it about?

I look at the Spanish impact on Nahuatl both in its full historical trajectory and modern synchronic dimension, focusing on the differentiation between ‘balanced’, long-term language contact and ‘unbalanced’ contact leading to rapid language shift in contemporary indigenous communities. I discuss the connection between accelerated contact-induced language change and language endangerment and shift. Of particular importance is the synchronic variation linked to speakers’ proficiency that influences language transmission in the diachronic perspective. I identify several types of Nahuatl speakers as agents of this accelerated language change which lead to individual attrition and shift at the community level.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The novelty of the study lies in combining the diachronic and synchronic perspectives: historical and modern research on Nahuatl in its social and cultural setting. This kind of multidisciplinary approach, taking into account both historical and modern data, will also be useful for other endangered minority languages in the scenario of long-term contact with a dominant language.