Extremely isolated communities offer 'laboratory conditions' for
examining the processes of language change and dialect formation. This
book presents findings of the first-ever ethnographic fieldwork on the
most remote island in the world with a permanent population, Tristan da
Cunha. It documents the historical formation of a unique local dialect
and investigates the sociolinguistic mechanisms that underlie dialect
contact and new-dialect formation. It also uncovers the linguistic
consequences of post-insularity - language change processes as a result
of increasing contacts with other communities and speakers. Researchers
and students of language variation will find this book a unique
resource.