This book presents an empirically based examination of language patterns found among the Israeli Druze community, which is profiled against that of the Arabs in Israel. The results document the emergence of a mixed language previously undescribed and provides a socio-political analysis. This study intends thus to make a contribution to the debate on "mixed languages", introducing a model that facilitates the analysis of the link bewteen codeswitching and sociopolitical identity. Special attention is paid to the assessment of language and identity issues of Golan Heights Druze and Israeli...

What can the languages spoken today tell us about the history of their speakers? This question is crucial in insular Southeast Asia and New Guinea, where thousands of languages are spoken, but written historical records and archaeological evidence is yet lacking in most regions. While the region has a long history of contact through trade, marriage exchanges, and cultural-political dominance, detailed linguistic studies of the effects of such contacts remain limited. This volume investigates how loanwords can prove past contact events, taking into consideration ten different regions located...