The linguistic constructs involved in ethnic borders are the primary focus of this volume. Ethnic borders have proven themselves to be surprisingly long-lived: in nearly all European countries and beyond, border demarcation, exclusion of foreigners, and minority conflicts are some of the most persistent challenges for nations and societies.

is Lecturer, is Professor and is Postgraduate at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Viadrina European University in Frankfurt/Oder.

Contents: Stefan Rabanus/Haykanush Barseghyan: Language Choice and Identity in Post-Soviet Armenia – Rita Vallentin: Linguistic Strategies of Constructing Durable and Permeable Ethnic Boundaries in a Brazilian Quilombo Community – Bernhard Brehmer: The Cyrillic Script as a Boundary Marker between «Insiders» and «Outsiders»: Metalinguistic Discourse about Script Choices in Slavic-German Bilingual Computer-Mediated Communication – Lia Melikishvili/Natia Jalabadze: Language and Ethnic Boundaries in Multiethnic Georgia – Maria Klessmann: Roma school mediation in Germany - Its Effects and Limitations – Sascha Wölck/Christina Rogers: Labeling difference - On discrimination and the social standing of children fathered by US soldiers during the Vietnam War – Harald Weydt: Linguistic borders - language conflicts. Pleading for recognition of their reality – Peter Rosenberg: The gains and losses of the constructivist view on ethnicity: Some considerations based on German «language islands» studies – Hans C. Boas: Linguistic splits along religious lines: The role of language maintenance among Catholics and Lutherans in Texas – Samantha Litty/Christine Evans/Joseph Salmons: Gray zones: The fluidity of Wisconsin German language and identification – Konstanze Jungbluth: Crossing the Border, Closing the Gap: Otherness in Language Use – Dagna Zinkhahn Rhobodes: The permeability of language borders on the example of German-Polish language mixing – Helena Topa Valentim: Boundary, a metalinguistic concept at the core of language deformability.