Contact-induced language change in a trilingual context: The case of Burushaski in Srinagar

This study provides a description and analysis of contact-induced language change in a dialect of Burushaski spoken in Srinagar (India). I present a unique situation in which contact outcomes are reflected via interplay of various sociolinguistic factors involving simultaneous contact with two languages — Kashmiri and Urdu, each affecting the language in a specific way: lexical borrowing from Urdu and structural borrowing from Kashmiri. The effects of contact are examined in a trilingual context where the contact languages are placed in a dominance relationship with Urdu occupying the top of the language hierarchy while Burushaski and Kashmiri are competing at the bottom. Data indicate that lexical borrowing and structural borrowing are two different types of contact phenomena which can occur independently of each other. The two processes are influenced by different sociolinguistic factors which may interact in different ways in different contact situations resulting in different types of contact outcomes.