The Native Languages of South America
Origins, Development, Typology

Explores the history and structure of South American languages, combining insights from archaeology and genetics with innovative linguistic analysis.

Loretta O'Connor (Edited by), Pieter Muysken (Edited by)

9781107044289, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 March 2014

400 pages, 23 b/w illus. 16 maps 43 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.7 kg

'The Native Languages of South America is a gold mine of precious specimens within reach of anyone interested in uncovering linguistic treasures. Amerindian languages are still vastly underexplored and continue to reveal phenomena that at times conform to expected universal tendencies and at times surprise and provoke us toward the revision - sometimes radical - of existing descriptive and theoretical models. This book will be useful not only to typologists, but also those who wish to know more about the results of new interdisciplinary research. Archeology and ethnography partner up with historical linguistics, which no longer merely reproduces the classic mold of the historical-comparative method, but revives areal diachronic study, investigating the multiple and complex contacts between societies and languages in the prehistorical and historical times of the indigenous peoples of South America.' Bruna Franchetto, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - Museu Nacional

In South America indigenous languages are extremely diverse. There are over one hundred language families in this region alone. Contributors from around the world explore the history and structure of these languages, combining insights from archaeology and genetics with innovative linguistic analysis. The book aims to uncover regional patterns and potential deeper genealogical relations between the languages. Based on a large-scale database of features from sixty languages, the book analyses major language families such as Tupian and Arawakan, as well as the Quechua/Aymara complex in the Andes, the Isthmo-Colombian region and the Andean foothills. It explores the effects of historical change in different grammatical systems and fills gaps in the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) database, where South American languages are underrepresented. An important resource for students and researchers interested in linguistics, anthropology and language evolution.

1. Introduction: South American indigenous languages – genealogy, typology, contacts Pieter Muysken and Loretta O'Connor
Part I. Introduction to South America: 2. Human migrations, dispersals, and contacts in South America Loretta O'Connor and Vishnupriya Kolipakam
3. Basic vocabulary comparison in South American languages Harald Hammarström
Part II. Case Studies in Contact: 4. Structural features and language contact in the Isthmo-Colombian Area Loretta O'Connor
5. The Andean foothills and adjacent Amazonian fringe Rik van Gijn
6. The Andean matrix Simon van de Kerke and Pieter Muysken
7. The Arawakan matrix Love Eriksen and Swintha Danielsen
8. The Tupian expansion Love Eriksen and Ana Vilacy Galucio
Part III. Comparative Perspectives on Linguistic Structures: 9. Language internal and external factors in the development of the desiderative in South American indigenous languages Neele Mueller
10. Verbal argument marking patterns in South American languages Joshua Birchall
11. The noun phrase: focus on demonstratives, redrawing the semantic map Olga Krasnoukhova
12. Subordination strategies in South America: nominalization Rik van Gijn
Part IV. Major Findings and Conclusions: 13. The languages of South America: deep families, areal relationships, and language contact Joshua Birchall, Swintha Danielsen, Love Eriksen, Ana Vilacy Galucio, Rik van Gijn, Harald Hammarström, Simon van de Kerke, Vishnupraya Kolipakam, Olga Krasnoukhova, Pieter Muysken, Neele Müller and Loretta O'Connor.

Subject Areas: Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF], Sociolinguistics [CFB], Linguistics [CF]