Prof. Viveka Velupillai (Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany) is giving a talk on "Island languages & language islands" in the next linguistics colloquium.

Abstract: Island cultures tend to be defined by their islandhood: the very fact that they inhabit a place defined by the surrounding sea tends to shape the outlook of island communities in several, sometimes seemingly conflicting ways.

Islands can be places of cultural and linguistic preservation, but also places of innovation. Islands are often seen as remote, but are in fact often places of contact. Linguistic islandhood can also be landlocked, such as with the so-called language islands: distinct varieties spoken in a sea of another, dominating language.

This lecture takes a look at island communities around the world and specifically at different linguistic effects of islandhood.