Are contractions unique to the English language?

Answer 1

Contractions are not at all unique to English. You also find them, for example, in French (l'homme = a contraction of le + homme), in Italian (l'ombrello), in Spanish (a + el => al), and in German (Mach's gut!) - just to give you a few examples! And it's not just in European languages. For example, the Dravidian languages (spoken in India & other countries) have contractions. It appears quite likely that very few languages don't have contractions!

Answer 2

I don't think so. In other languages I have encountered, there are also contractions. But they contract different things.