Robert McColl Millar is Professor in Linguistics and Scottish Language at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has a particular interest in the ways in which history, economics, and ideology interact with language use, now and in the past. He his recent publications include A Sociolinguistic History of Scotland (2020), Trask's Historical Linguistics, 4th edition (2023), and A History of the Scots Language (2023).

'The writing is also accessible and approachable for students who have not yet reached an advanced level of linguistic study.' Joseph Bauman, Penn State University

• 1. Introduction; 2. Language death, language attrition and language contact; 3. Pidgins and Creoles; 4. Semi-Creoles (varieties with Creole-like features which are not Creoles); 5. Macro-convergence; 6. Close-variety convergence and change: the Koine; 7. Some final thoughts.

Robert McColl Millar is Professor in Linguistics and Scottish Language at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has a particular interest in the ways in which history, economics, and ideology interact with language use, now and in the past. He his recent publications include A Sociolinguistic History of Scotland (2020), Trask's Historical Linguistics, 4th edition (2023), and A History of the Scots Language (2023).

'The writing is also accessible and approachable for students who have not yet reached an advanced level of linguistic study.' Joseph Bauman, Penn State University

• 1. Introduction; 2. Language death, language attrition and language contact; 3. Pidgins and Creoles; 4. Semi-Creoles (varieties with Creole-like features which are not Creoles); 5. Macro-convergence; 6. Close-variety convergence and change: the Koine; 7. Some final thoughts.

Robert McColl Millar is Professor in Linguistics and Scottish Language at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has a particular interest in the ways in which history, economics, and ideology interact with language use, now and in the past. He his recent publications include A Sociolinguistic History of Scotland (2020), Trask's Historical Linguistics, 4th edition (2023), and A History of the Scots Language (2023).

'The writing is also accessible and approachable for students who have not yet reached an advanced level of linguistic study.' Joseph Bauman, Penn State University

• 1. Introduction; 2. Language death, language attrition and language contact; 3. Pidgins and Creoles; 4. Semi-Creoles (varieties with Creole-like features which are not Creoles); 5. Macro-convergence; 6. Close-variety convergence and change: the Koine; 7. Some final thoughts.