How does language contact drive change? Give an example.

• A. Interaction between language communities leads to borrowings; example: kindergarten from German.
• B. Language contact reduces the number of borrowings.
• C. Language contact only affects pronunciation, not vocabulary.
• D. Borrowings always replace native words entirely.

Answer: (A)

Language contact happens when different language communities interact, so people borrow words and phrases to name new ideas, objects, or practices they encounter. This is how languages change: vocabularies expand as terms move from one language into another. The example kindergarten, borrowed from German, shows this clearly—the English lexicon gained a term for a specific kind of preschool through social contact, enriching it with a foreign word that labels a new concept.

This fits best because it highlights the process of borrowing driven by interaction. Borrowings don’t typically come from a single source or replace native words entirely; they add to the language and can coexist with existing vocabulary. Also, language contact affects more than pronunciation; it often brings in new vocabulary, among other changes.