SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
Dr. Oliver Winiströfer (Universität Zürich) will give a talk on…
“The Balkans and the Sprachbund. The impact of language contact on the languages of the Balkans”
Time: 4-6 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract:
The languages of the Balkans have fascinated linguists for almost two centuries. Researchers have documented striking structural parallels that make the Balkans a textbook example of a sprachbund, since Jernej Kopitar’s (1829) comparative work on Albanian, Balkan Romance, and Balkan Slavic.
In this talk, I bring together quantitative data (from linguistic typology and genetics) and qualitative evidence (from dialectology) to explore how areality, and thus, language contact, has shaped these systems. I’ll show not only where Balkan languages have converged structurally, but also why the absence of certain linguistic features can be just as revealing as their presence. This perspective sheds light on how linguistic systems influence each other over time and how we can detect those connections in the present.
Snacken with Balkans Snacks