Title: Read it, but critically
Product review: This book is a milestone in contact-linguistics. However, it is worthwhile to read Uriel Weinreich's 1953 Languages in Contact first, which is not outdated despite its date. Thomason & Kaufman are at times simplistic in their discussion of social factors as the primary determinant of language change outcomes, and the linguistic factors they accept as important in determining the outcome of language-contact should not be taken without a grain of salt. For example, 'universal markedness' is a concept which should be booed at every time it is used.On the whole, however, this book is a clear, insightful and complex discussion of the mechanics of language-contact (incidentally, it is much better than Thomason's later book on the same subject, Language Contact: An Introduction).
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