Mixed language

A mixed language is a language that arises through the fusion of usually two source languages, normally in situations of thorough bilingualism (Meakins, 2013), so that it is not possible to classify the resulting language as belonging to either of the language families that were its sources. Although the concept is frequently encountered in historical linguistics from the early 20th century, attested cases of language mixture, as opposed to code-switching, substrata, or lexical borrowing, are quite rare. Furthermore, a mixed language may mark the appearance of a new ethnic or cultural group.

Other terms used in linguistics for the concept of a 'mixed language' include 'hybrid language', 'contact language', and 'fusion language'; in older usage, 'jargon' was sometimes used in this sense. In some linguists' usage, creoles and pidgins are types of mixed languages, whereas in others' usage, creoles and pidgins are merely among the kinds of language that might become full-fledged mixed languages.

A mixed language is a language that combines the grammatical elements of one language and the lexical items of another language. Typically, there is bilingualism in one of the groups, though this is not a requirement.

Every language is mixed to some extent, but few languages are "mixed languages" in the specific sense meant here. In the late 19th century, the term "mixed language" had an ambiguous definition that has since been narrowed to a language that combines lexical items and grammar of two (or more) languages that can be easily identified. Since then, competing hypotheses of what constitutes a mixed language have been posited.

There is some disagreement among researchers about the precise definition of a mixed language, though the basic criteria are: contact situation between two languages, bilingualism in at least one of the two groups in contact, a clear differentiation between the mixed language and the languages being mixed, and minimal simplification of the elements from each language.

Thomason (1995) classifies mixed languages into two categories. Category 1 languages exhibit "heavy influence from the dominant group's language in all aspects of structure and grammar as well as lexicon." (Winford 171). Category 2 languages show a "categorial specificity of the structural borrowing" or a uniform borrowing of specific categories (Winford).

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