In linguistics, a substratum (lat. sub: under + stratum: layer => lower layer) is a language which influences another one while that second language supplants it. The term is also used of substrate interference, i.e. the influence exerted by the substratum language on the supplanting language. According to some classifications, this is one of three main types of linguistic interference: substratum interference differs from both adstratum, which involves mutual borrowing between languages of roughly equal prestige and no language replacement, and superstratum, which refers to the influence a socially dominating language has on another, receding language. Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, cross-linguistic interference or interference) is the effect of a speaker or writers first language (L1) on the production or perception of his or her second language (L2). ... The term adstratum refers to a language which is equal in prestige to another. ... A superstratum or superstrate is the counterpart to a substratum. ...

In a typical case of substrate interference, a language A occupies a given territory, and another language B arrives in the same territory (brought, for example, with migrations of population). Then language B begins to supplant language A: the speakers of language A abandon their own language in favour of B, generally because they believe that it is in their best (e.g. economic, political, cultural, social) interests to do so. During the language shift, however, the receding language A still influences language B (for example, through the transfer of loanwords, place-names, or grammatical patterns from A to B). A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ... In geography and cartography, a toponym is a place name, a geographical name, a proper name of locality, region, or some other part of Earths surface or its natural or artificial feature. ...

For example, Gaulish is a substratum of French. A Celtic people, the Gauls, lived in the current French-speaking territory before the arrival of the Romans. Given the cultural, economic and political prestige which Latin enjoyed, the Gauls eventually abandoned their language in favour of Latin, which evolved in this region until eventually it took the form of Modern French. The Gaulish speech disappeared, but it remains detectable in some French words (approximately ninety) as well as place-names of Gaulish origin. Gaulish is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became dominant in Roman Gaul. ... A Celtic cross. ... Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Another example is the influence of the North Germanic Norn language, extinct since the 18th century, on the Scots dialects of the Shetland and Orkney Islands. A North Germanic language is any of several Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the islands west of Scandinavia. ... Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on the Shetland Islands and Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland. ... Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ... The Shetland Islands, also called Shetland (archaically spelled Zetland) formerly called Hjaltland, comprise one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... The Orkney Islands, usually called simply Orkney, are one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. ...

Linguistic substrata may be difficult to detect, especially if the substratum language and its nearest relatives are extinct. For example, the earliest form of the Germanic languages may have been influenced by a non-Indo-European language, purportedly the source of about one quarter of the most ancient Germanic word-stock; see Germanic substrate hypothesis. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Germanic substrate hypothesis is a hypothesis that some have ventured that attempts to explain the distinctiveness of the Germanic languages within the Indo-European language family. ...

Other uses

The word also has some other uses, referring to something underlying, something supporting. In horticulture: materials allowing the binding of roots of a plant. In metaphysics, the substratum is the real "thing-in-itself" or hypokeimenon which lies "beneath" or "beyond" appearances and perception of the thing. Concern has been expressed that this article or section is missing information about: horticulture as used in anthropology, a label for agriculture as used in small-scale societies. ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... Hypokeimenon is a term in metaphysics which loosely means the underlying thing or the substratum. ...

See also

• Substrate (other meanings of substrate, often used informally instead of substratum).
• Language transfer
• Superstratum
• Adstratum
• Language shift
• Greek substrate language