Communication strategies in the area of the Hanseatic League: The approach by semi-communication

This paper deals with various forms of bi- and multilingualism in Scandinavia during the era of the Hanseatic League from about 1200 to 1550. It is argued that one of the main ways to come into (unmediated) contact was semi-communication, i.e., a special way to communicate by means of one's own native language considering the genetically related neighbouring languages as mutually intelligible linguistic varieties or dialects. Special emphasis is paid to the pragmatic and semiotic preconditions for semi-communication. The paper concludes with an outline of the main characteristics of language contact processes in so-called 'face-to-face' trading situations.