In the study of language maintenance (henceforth LM) the term “LM” is closely linked to the term “language shift” (LS). it is difficult to find a definition of either term which is accepted unanimously among scholars in the field there is nevertheless a common understanding that language shift implies the change (gradual or not). The term language maintenance is used to describe a situation in which a speaker, a group of speakers, or a speech community continue to use their language in some or all spheres of life despite competition with the dominant or majority language to become the main/sole language in these spheres. Both phenomena emerge in the context of language contact. Although language contact does not always involve linguistic competition in which only one language survives, there are many situations of language contact in which one language (gradually) loses ground in the face of another language.