Victor Fernández-Mallat and Jennifer Nycz’s Dialect Contact explores the impact of language interaction and its power to change people, languages, and societies. Through a sociolinguistic lens and different levels of analysis, international contributors explain dialect contact within diverse areas and languages. Read on for a Q&A with the authors about the role of the Georgetown University Round Table conference in the development of this book, further areas of research within dialect contact, and more.

What first sparked your interest in dialect contact?

I, Víctor Fernández-Mallat, was born and raised in Montréal to Chilean parents, and most of my many Spanish-speaking neighbors were from diverse regions of the Spanish-speaking world. As an undergraduate, when I discovered the field of dialect contact, I was immediately drawn to it because it provided a scientific lens through which to view many of my experiences.

My (Jen Nycz)’s experience has mainly been with dialect contact in English - I noticed how my own speech changed depending on who I was talking to (and where my audience was from, specifically) and this made me wonder about how these kind of temporary changes could add up to longer term change in people who had lasting exposure to a new dialect due to mobility.

What impact did GURT have on the book? What is something unexpected or particularly interesting that stands out to you from GURT?

GURT had a significant impact on the book, as nearly all the contributions, except for one chapter, are based on papers presented at the conference. An unexpected development was the switch from an in-person to a virtual format, which became necessary due to the pandemic emerging while we were in the midst of organizing the event—fortunately we still had a great turnout, with exciting talks and invigorating discussion sessions that led to a volume we’re proud of!

How did you select the contributors for the book, and what qualities/areas of expertise were you looking for?

Just as we carefully selected keynote speakers for the GURT conference to include both established scholars and emerging voices, we aimed to achieve the same balance in the book. We sought to feature a diverse range of regions and languages. This is reflected in the book’s content, which encompasses studies on dialect contact situations involving Arabic varieties in Jordan, Brazilian Portuguese in Brazil, English varieties in Liberia and Singapore, German varieties in Germany, Korean varieties in South Korea, and Spanish varieties in both Spain and the United States.

If you could have added another chapter/section to this book, what would you have liked to cover?

There are numerous chapters that could be added to this book, potentially warranting an additional edited volume. Among the most pressing additions would be a chapter focusing on lesser-known languages or those restricted to smaller regions, such as many indigenous languages worldwide. Additionally, a chapter exploring dialect contact among varieties of signed languages would be a valuable contribution.