In this paper, I analyze the word order in NP with a genitive modifier in the colloquial speech of the Russian diaspora in Finland. The informants are considered as two groups, dialect speakers and nondialect speakers. In Finnish and Swedish, the genitive modifier rigidly precedes the head. In modern Russian, the genitive modifier follows the head, but, in colloquia speech, it can appear in prehead position when focal. The genitive of the specific personal possessor is the most susceptible to change of position in response to pragmatic requirements. The starting hypothesis for this research is that structures susceptible to pragmatic-semantic variation first change in the language contact situation. By and large, this hypothesis is supported by the data analysis; only the genitive of the specific personal possessor appears in prehead position. However, the amount and quality of inversion is different in the dialect and nondialect samples.I shall reveal the linguistic and extralinguistic sources of the intergroup difference. The main point of this research is to demonstrate how intralinguistic, interlinguistic, and extralinguistic factors operate conjointly, inducing language change.

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