Language contact and iconicity

Abstract The role that ionicity can play in situations of language contact is explored here with primary data coming from the interactions among languages of the Balkans in southeastern Europe, a well-known hotbed of language contact. Several case studies involving these languages are presented and discussed, focusing on onomatopoeia, reduplication, and sound symbolism (also referred to here as phonosemantics). It is concluded that iconic elements are subject to contact-induced effects including outright borrowing and more nuanced contributions to expressiveness. Parallel developments involving other regions and other languages, such as Picardese influence on Flemish, are noted as well, giving a broader geographic and cross-linguistic scope to the study.