This new volume on language contact and contact languages presents current research of distinguished scholars in the field as well as highly talented young scientists. It has two principal aims. Firstly, it ventures to analyze language contact from different perspectives, notably language typology, diachronic linguistics, language acquisition and translation studies. Secondly, it places special emphasis on the description, elaboration and explanation of universal constraints on language contact. The volume contains contributions by Bernard Comrie, Bernd Heine, Lars Johanson, Michael Noonan and Thomas Stolz on language contact and typology; Martin Elsig, Steffen Höder/Ludger Zeevart, Conxita Lléo/Susana Cortés/Ariadna Benet and Lukas Pietsch on diachronic aspects of language contact; Margareta Almgren/Leire Beloki/Itziar Idiazabal/Ibon Manterola and Michaela Hilbert on language contact and language acquisition; Nicole Baumgarten/Demet Özçetin and Erich Steiner on language contact and translation.