Amerind languages

Background

The idea that all the languages of the Americas are related goes back to the 19th century when early linguists such as Peter Stephen DuPonceau and Wilhelm von Humboldt noticed that the languages of the Americas seemed to be very different from the better known European languages, yet seemingly also quite similar to each other. When studies of American Indian languages began in earnest in the early 20th century linguists quickly realized that the indigenous languages were in fact not all that similar, but had a diversity much greater than among the languages of Europe. After a period of uncertainty about whether indigenous languages could be described and investigated by the methods applied to European languages, the first linguists began the daunting task of trying to classify the languages of the Americas by using the comparative method.

Among the most prolific and gifted linguists of his times was Edward Sapir, who was among the first to apply the comparative method to native American languages. However, contrary to current practice in historical linguistics, Sapir also often relied on "hunches" and "gut feeling" when proposing new language families. Some of these suggestions have been proven correct while others have not. Sapir entertained the idea that ultimately all languages of the Americas might turn out to be provably related and such a phenomenon as the apparent Pan-American tendency to have first person forms with a prefixed n- was suggestive for this line of thought.

Since Sapir's death in 1939, linguists have spent their time researching his proposals; typically, there have been two opposing camps in this endeavor: the so-called "lumpers" who usually look towards notions of genetic relationships, and the "splitters" who are widely critical of such proposals and expect successful family relations to be proven by the most rigorous standards of scholarship. Joseph Greenberg worked in the tradition of "lumpers" and following Sapir, was mindful of evidence not generally acceptable to those who hold that only actual linguistic reconstruction—through the comparative method—can yield reliable proof of genetic relationships between languages. In elaborating his classification of the Amerind languages, Greenberg relied heavily on Sapir's early work on the North American languages and the highly impressionist classification of South American languages by Paul Rivet.

Pronouns

The main argument for the genetic unity of most native American languages is an observed pronominal pattern in many native American languages that have first person forms with n- and second person forms with m-. This pattern was first noted by Alfredo Trombetti in 1905. This pattern was also noted by Sapir which caused him to suggest that ultimately all native American languages would turn out to be related. In a personal letter to A. L. Kroeber he wrote (Sapir 1918):

The supposed "n/m – I/you" pattern among Native American languages has attracted attention even from those linguists who are normally critical of such proposals. Johanna Nichols has investigated the distribution of the languages that have the n/m contrast and found that they are mostly confined to the western coast of the Americas, and that similarly they exist in East Asia and Oceania. This caused her to suggest that they had spread through diffusion. This notion was rejected by Lyle Campbell who argued that in fact the n/m pattern was not statistically significant in either area compared to the rest of the world. Campbell also showed that several of the languages that have the contrast today did not have it historically and that largely the pattern was consistent with chance resemblances, especially when taking into consideration the statistic prevalence of nasal consonants in all the pronominal systems of the world.

At right is a selection of singular Amerind pronouns from various languages, each of which are from separate well-attested families.

Reception

The consensus among historical linguists specializing in Native American languages is that the Amerind hypothesis is unsupported by valid evidence, particularly because the basis for the proposal is mass comparison, but also because of many other methodological flaws made by Greenberg in the elaboration of the hypothesis. Critics regard this technique as fundamentally flawed, unable to distinguish chance resemblances from those due to a historical relationship among the languages and providing no means of distinguishing resemblances due to common descent from those due to language contact. In addition, critics have pointed out errors in the citation of data, including erroneous forms, erroneous glosses, unjustified morphological segmentation, attribution to the wrong language, and citation of entirely spurious forms.

A further criticism is that, contrary to normal scholarly practice, no source references are given for the data, which in most cases come from languages for which there is no standard, authoritative source. In addition, Greenberg does not normalize the spelling of the data, so it is impossible without knowing the source of each form to know what the notation represents.

While sympathetic to the idea of an Amerind language family, Morris Swadesh was critical of many of Greenberg's subdivisions and believed it was due to an insufficient number of comparisons by Greenberg.

Classification

The 1960 proposal, in its outlines, was as follows:

1. Almosan–Keresiouan
2. Hokan
3. Penutian (incl. Macro-Mayan)
4. Aztec–Tanoan
5. Oto-Mangean
6. Purépecha
7. Macro-Chibchan
   1. Chibchan
   2. Paezan
8. Andean–Equatorial
   1. Andean
   2. Jivaroan
   3. Macro-Tucanoan
   4. Equatorial (with Macro-Arawakan and Tupian)
9. Ge–Pano–Carib
   1. Macro-Ge
   2. Macro-Panoan
   3. Macro-Carib
   4. Nambikwara
   5. Huarpe
   6. Taruma

Below is the current state of Amerindian classification, as given in An Amerind Etymological Dictionary, by Joseph Greenberg and Merritt Ruhlen, Stanford University, 2007.

1. North–Central Amerind
   1. Northern Amerind
      1. Almosan–Keresiouan
         1. Almosan
            1. Algic
            2. Kutenai
            3. Mosan
               1. Chimakuan
               2. Salishan
               3. Wakashan
         2. Keresiouan
            1. Caddoan
            2. Iroquoian
            3. Keresan
            4. Siouan–Yuchi
               1. Siouan
               2. Yuchi
      2. Penutian–Hokan
         1. Penutian
            1. Tsimshian
            2. Chinook
            3. Oregon
            4. Plateau
            5. California
               1. Maiduan
               2. Miwok–Costanoan
               3. Wintun
               4. Yokutsan
            6. Zuni
            7. Gulf
               1. Atakapa
               2. Chitimacha
               3. Muskogean
               4. Natchez
               5. Tunica
               6. Yukian
                  1. Yuki
                  2. Wappo
            8. Mexican Penutian
               1. Huave
               2. Mayan
               3. Mixe–Zoque
               4. Totonac
         2. Hokan
            1. Northern Hokan
               1. Karok–Shasta
                  1. Karok
                  2. Chimariko
                  3. Shasta–Achomawi
                     1. Shasta
                     2. Achomawi
               2. Yana
               3. Pomoan
            2. Washo
            3. Salinan–Chumash
               1. Salinan
               2. Chumash
               3. Esselen
            4. Seri–Yuman
               1. Seri
               2. Yuman
            5. Waicuri–Quinigua
               1. Waicuri
               2. Maratino
               3. Quinigua
            6. Coahuiltecan
            7. Tequistlatec
            8. Subtiaba
            9. Jicaque
            10. Yurumangui
   2. Central Amerind
      1. Tanoan
      2. Uto-Aztekan
      3. Oto-Manguean
2. Southern Amerind
   1. Andean–Chibchan–Paezan
      1. Chibchan–Paezan
         1. Macro-Chibchan
            1. Cuitlatec
            2. Lenca
            3. Chibchan
            4. Paya
            5. Purépecha
            6. Yanomam
            7. Yunca–Puruhan
         2. Macro-Paezan
            1. Allentiac
            2. Atacama
            3. Betoi
            4. Chimu–Mochita
            5. Itonama
            6. Jirajara
            7. Mura
            8. Paezan
            9. Timucua
            10. Warrao
      2. Andean
         1. Aymara
         2. Itucale–Sabela
            1. Itucale
            2. Mayna
            3. Sabela
         3. Cahuapana–Zaparo
            1. Cahuapana
            2. Zaparo
         4. Northern Andean
            1. Catacao
            2. Cholona
            3. Culli
            4. Leco
            5. Sechura
         5. Quechua
         6. Southern Andean
            1. Qawasqar
            2. Mapudungu
            3. Gennaken
            4. Chon
            5. Yamana
   2. Equatorial–Tucanoan
      1. Equatorial
         1. Macro-Arawakan
         2. Cayuvava
         3. Coche
         4. Jivaro–Kandoshi
            1. Cofán
            2. Esmeralda
            3. Jivaro
            4. Kandoshi
            5. Yaruro
         5. Kariri–Tupi
         6. Piaroa
         7. Taruma
         8. Timote
         9. Trumai
         10. Tusha
         11. Yuracaré
         12. Zamuco
      2. Macro-Tucanoan
         1. Auixiri
         2. Canichana
         3. Capixana
         4. Catuquina
         5. Gamella
         6. Huari
         7. Iranshe
         8. Kaliana–Maku
         9. Koaia
         10. Movima
         11. Muniche
         12. Nambikwara
         13. Natu
         14. Pankaruru
         15. Puinave
         16. Shukuru
         17. Ticuna–Yuri
         18. Tucanoan
         19. Uman
   3. Ge–Pano–Carib
      1. Macro-Carib
         1. Andoke
         2. Bora–Uitoto
         3. Carib
         4. Kukura [spurious]
         5. Yagua
      2. Macro-Panoan
         1. Charruan
         2. Lengua
         3. Lule–Vilela
         4. Mataco–Guaicuru
         5. Moseten
         6. Pano–Tacanan
      3. Macro-Gê
         1. Bororo
         2. Botocudo
         3. Caraja
         4. Chiquito
         5. Erikbatsa
         6. Fulnio
         7. Ge–Kaingang
         8. Guató
         9. Kamakan
         10. Mashakali
         11. Opaie
         12. Oti
         13. Puri
         14. Yabuti