The Native Languages of South America

Description

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. Contents Figures Maps Tables Contributors Acknowledgments 1 Introduction: South American indigenous languages; genealogy, typology, contacts Part I Introduction to South America 2 Human migrations, dispersals, and contacts in South America 3 Basic vocabulary comparison in South American languages Part II Case studies in contact 4 Structural features and language contact in the Isthmo-Colombian area 5 The Andean foothills and adjacent Amazonian fringe 6 The Andean matrix 7 The Arawakan matrix 8 The Tupian expansion Part III Comparative perspectives on linguistic structures 9 Language internal and external factors in the development of the desiderative in South American indigenous languages 10 Verbal argument marking patterns in South American languages 11 The Noun Phrase: focus on demonstratives, redrawing the semantic map 12 Subordination strategies in South America: nominalization Part IV Major findings and conclusions 13 The languages of South America: deep families, areal relationships, and language contact References Subject and place index Language index Author index