The replication of concrete formal-structural material (morpho-phonological forms with attached meanings) from one language in another is universally understood to instantiate grammatical and lexical ‘borrowing’ (we follow mainstream usage here and attach no value judgement to the word ‘borrowing’ itself, which is obviously just a metaphor). More controversial is the interpretation of contact-induced structural change that does not involve such replication of forms, but is manifested rather through shift in meaning, distribution, or organisation of inherited material, inspired by an external model. Such changes are sometimes referred to as ‘convergent developments’, and are often typical of linguistic areas. We explore the position of language convergence of this kind in the overall context of contact-induced change. Taking into consideration recent work on language convergence in the context of grammaticalisation theory (Heine & Kuteva 2005), we address the mechanism that is involved when language-internal resources are employed to replicate an external model. We attempt to trace this mechanism to its roots at the level of the organisation of communicative discourse in multilingual settings.

Members of a functional category that I tentatively call "utterance modifiers" are the most vulnerable items to contact-related linguistic change in grammar. Utterance modifiers regulate linguistic-mental processing activities that can be attributed to a "grammar of directing." Bilinguals, when faced with the tension of choosing among the systems at their disposal in what is a highly automaticized operation, are tempted to reduce the overt representation of the "grammar of directing" to just one set of elements. Preference is given to the pragmatically dominant language. Contact-related change in the area of utterance modifiers is therefore not due to lack of equivalent functions in the indigenous language, nor is it due to the prestige effect that the integration ofL2 items may have on the overall flavor of the discourse. Rather, I attribute synchronic variation in the speech ofbilinguals to the cognitive pressure exerted on them to draw on the resources of the pragmatically dominant language for situative, gesturelike discourse-regulating purposes, and the diachronic change that arises from such variation to the establishment of a permanent licensing for speakers to do so.

Most societies in today's world are multilingual. 'Language contact' occurs when speakers of different languages interact and their languages influence each other. This book is an introduction to the subject, covering individual and societal multilingualism, the acquisition of two or more languages from birth, second language acquisition in adulthood, language change, linguistic typology, language processing and the structure of the language faculty. It explains the effects of multilingualism on society and language policy, as well as the consequences that long-term bilingualism within communities can have for the structure of languages. Drawing on the author's own first-hand observations of child and adult bilingualism, the book provides a clear analysis of such phenomena as language convergence, grammatical borrowing, and mixed languages.

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This paper argues for a cognitive motivation behind the nonseparation of the systems of discourse marking available to bilinguals. It produces evidence that bilingual speakers, in an unconscious effort to reduce the mental effort which is necessary to monitor and direct the hearer's responses and reactions to the speaker's utterances, can simplify monitoring -and- directing operations by eliminating the language-specific options available to them, thereby automaticizing the choice of expressions. This cognitive motivation, I argue, is so strong that it will at times override the social and communicative constraints on the discourse, leading to counterstrategic, unintentional choices or slips. It is suggested that Fusion, as the phenomenon is defined, is responsible for a type of bilingual discourse marking which, if extralinguistic factors permit, may lead to language change. Fusion figures in a function-based model of language contact phenomena alongside Integration, Differentiation, and Convergence, and the position of other approaches to bilingual discourse markers is examined in the light of this model.