Settler migration and settler varieties

This chapter surveys a particularly influential group in the dynamic scenario of language change induced by migratory movements: the “settler varieties.” It outlines the implications of colonial settlers for language spread, language contact, and language change, as well as new forms of settler migration in postcolonial contexts. The chapter focuses on language shift processes, in particular the concept of ethnolinguistic vitality that is crucial in the maintenance/loss of settler varieties. It also focuses on three issues: the formation and maintenance of settler varieties, the emergence of postcolonial varieties along two strands and evolutionary identity-driven patterns, and the manifestation of ethnolinguistic vitality that will determine the process of language maintenance or shift. The chapter addresses the question whether modifications in migratory patterns over time lead to differential change processes. It discusses the sociolinguistic consequences of settlement types and shown that such histories influence the directionality of contact between varieties.