American Indian Languages : The Historical Linguistics of Native America

Native American languages are spoken from Siberia to Greenland, and from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego; they include the southernmost language of the world (Yaghan) and some of the northernmost (Eskimoan). Campbell's project is to take stock of what is currently known about the history of Native American languages and in the process examine the state of American Indian historical linguistics, and the success and failure of its various methodologies. There is remarkably little consensus in the field, largely due to the 1987 publication of Language in the Americas by Joseph Greenberg. He claimed to trace a historical relation between all American Indian languages of North and South America, implying that most of the Western Hemisphere was settled by a single wave of immigration from Asia. This has caused intense controversy and Campbell, as a leading scholar in the field, intends this volume to be, in part, a response to Greenberg. Finally, Campbell demonstrates that the historical study of Native American languages has always relied on up-to-date methodology and theoretical assumptions and did not, as is often believed, lag behind the European historical linguistic tradition. Native American languages are spoken from Siberia to Greenland, and from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego; they include the southernmost language of the world (Yaghan) and some of the northernmost (Eskimoan). Campbell's project is to take stock of what is currently known about the history of Native American languages and in the process examine the state of American Indian historical linguistics, and the success and failure of its various methodologies.There is remarkably little consensus in the field, largely due to the 1987 publication of Language in the Americas by Joseph Greenberg. He claimed to trace a historical relation between all American Indian languages of North and South America, implying that most of the Western Hemisphere was settled by a single wave of immigration from Asia. This has caused intense controversy and Campbell, as a leading scholar in the field, intends this volume to be, in part, a response to Greenberg. Finally, Campbell demonstrates that the historical study of Native American languages has always relied on up-to-date methodology and theoretical assumptions and did not, as is often believed, lag behind the European historical linguistic tradition. Frontmatter Phonetic Symbols (page xii) Note on the Classification Lists and the Maps (page xiv) 1 Introduction (page 3) APPENDIX Native American Pidgins and Trade Languages (page 18) 2 The History of American Indian Linguistics (page 26) APPENDIX Comparison of Major Classifications of North American Languages (page 86) 3 The Origin of Native American Languages (page 90) 4 Languages of North America (page 107) 5 Languages of Middle America (page 156) 6 Languages of South America (page 170) 7 Distant Genetic Relationships: The Methods (page 206) 8 Distant Genetic Relationships: The Proposals (page 260) 9 Linguistic Areas of the Americas (page 330) Maps (page 353) Notes (page 377) References (page 429) Index of Languages, Language Families, and Proposed Genetic Relationships (page 483) Author Index (page 504) Subject Index (page 510)