Trade migration and language

This chapter describes and argues that trade migration started in prehistoric times, continued through and survived European colonialism, and has expanded ever more widely and quickly in the current era of capitalist globalization but with new players. It identifies linguistic consequences or products traditionally associated with trade migration. The chapter focuses on “grassroots multilingualism” that has emerged from the context of trade migration but is primarily concerned with linguistic and socioeconomic practices, ideologies, and processes. It argues that multilingualism is an inherent and important dimension of trade migration, which provides a strategic entry point for studying multilingualism as well as social processes. The chapter examines the relations between individual trajectories and their multilingual practices and repertoires. It discusses issues in jargon, pidgin, and lingua franca research before describing and further conceptualizes “grassroots multilingualism” with data from ongoing fieldwork in China and Namibia. The chapter discusses future directions for researching trade migration and language.