Bridging Linguistics and Economics

By bridging the gap between linguistics and economics, this book sheds light on a range of mutually valuable topics.

This book calls for both linguists and economists to engage more widely in each other's discipline, in order to enrich both fields. For linguists, it explains how economics can shed light on speakers' linguistic behaviours, and for economists, how linguistics can help them to propose demographically inclusive economic development plans.Linguistics has had a significant and evident impact on economics, and vice versa. However, this mutually beneficial relationship has so far remained under-exploited. This rich volume brings together an international range of scholars, to bridge the gap between these two distinct but increasingly interrelated disciplines. It covers areas such as the role of economic factors in the maintenance or loss of languages, the relationship between speakers' language choices and economic practices, the relevance of economic development to the spread of modern communication technology, and the role of language in economic development. It represents a critical call to arms for researchers and students in both fields to engage in better informed ways with the work of the other. By sharing both linguistic and economic ideas, the editors and the other contributors foster a clear dialogue between the two disciplines, which will inform the rapidly emerging field of 'language economics'.