The Native Languages of South America; Origins, Development, Typology

O'Connor, Loretta [Ed.]; Pieter Muysken [Ed.]

ISBN 10: 1107044286 / ISBN 13: 9781107044289

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2014

About this Item

pp. xiii, 384. Royal 8vo. Light shelfwear, some highlighting; very good.

Seller Inventory # 099441

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Native Languages of South America; Origins, Development, Typology
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1107044286
• ISBN 13: 9781107044289
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Languages

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Authors

Loretta O'Connor is a postdoctoral researcher in the South American languages research group of the Traces of Contact project, Radboud University Nijmegen.

Pieter Muysken is Academy Professor of Linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen.