The Handbook of Language Contact offers systematic coverage of the major issues in this field - ranging from the value of contact explanations in linguistics, to the impact of immigration, to dialectology - combining new research from a team of globally renowned scholars, with case studies of numerous languages. * An authoritative reference work exploring the major issues in the field of language contact: the study of how language changes when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact * Brings together 40 specially-commissioned essays by an international team of scholars * Examines language contact in societies which have significant immigration populations, and includes a fascinating cross-section of case studies drawing on languages across the world * Accessibly structured into sections exploring the place of contact studies within linguistics as a whole; the value of contact studies for research into language change; and language contact in the context of work on language and society * Explores a broad range of topics, making it an excellent resource for both faculty and students across a variety of fields within linguistics