A Sprachbund (plural Sprachbünde [ˈʃpraːxˌbʏndə]), from the German word for “language union”, also known as a linguistic area, convergence area, diffusion area or language crossroads,'s a group of languages that've become similar in some way because of geographical proximity and language contact. They may be genetically unrelated, or only distantly related. Where genetic affiliations are unclear, the sprachbund characteristics might give a false app… (More on Sprachbund)