Stratum (linguistics)  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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search This article is about the term in linguistics. For other
uses, see Stratum (disambiguation). "Substratum" redirects here.
For other uses, see substrate (disambiguation).  In linguistics,
a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that
influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A
substratum or substrate is a language which has lower power or
prestige than another, while a superstratum or superstrate is
the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum
and superstratum languages influence each other, but in
different ways. An adstratum or adstrate refers to a language
that is in contact with another language in a neighbor
population without having identifiably higher or lower prestige.
The notion of "strata" has first been developed by the Italian
linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (1829-1907), and became known in
the English-speaking world by two di