Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

A-Z 293
(Alaska, western Canada and southwestern USA), Salish (Pacific north-west), Wakashan
(Vancouver Island), Siouan (Great Plains), Uto-Aztecan (Mexico), Muskogean
(southeastern USA), Iroquoian (eastern USA), Yuman (Baja California), Mayan (Mexico
and Guatemala). It is estimated that nearly 400 distinct languages were spoken in North
America in pre-Columbian times, 300 of these north of Mexico. Today, about 200
survive north of Mexico, but many of these are near extinction.
Along with Indo-Pacific languages, South American linguistic relationships are the
least documented in the world, and estimates run from 1,000 to 2,000 languages,
although only about 600 are actually recorded and 120 of these are extinct. Three major
South American families which account for most of the known languages have been
posited. They are: Andean-Equatorial, whose principal language is Quechua; Ge-Pano-
Carib, extending from the Lesser Antilles to southern Argentina; and Macro-Chibchan,
covering some of central America, much of northern South America, and parts of Brazil.
SOME LANGUAGE ISOLATES
In some cases, a single language has no known relationships with other languages and
cannot be assigned to a family. When this occurs, the language in question is called an
isolate. Some languages that have not been related to any other are Basque (spoken in
northeastern Spain and southwestern France), Ainu (of northern Japan), Koutenay
(British Columbia), Gilyak (Siberia), Taraskan (California), and Burushaski (spoken in
Pakistan). There are also the extinct Sumerian, Iberian, Tartessian, and many other
languages known only from inscriptional material.
J.M.A.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Anderson, J.M. (1973), Structural Aspects of Language Change, London, Longman.
Antilla, R. (1972), An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics, New York,
Macmillan.
Arlotto, A. (1972), Introduction to Historical Linguistics, Boston, University Press of America.
Bynon, T. (1977), Historical Linguistics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Lehmann, W.P. (1962), Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, New York, Holt, Rinehart &
Winston.
Lehmann, W.P. (1967), A Reader in Nineteenth Century Historical Indo-European Linguistics,
Bloomington and London, Indiana University Press.
Lockwood, W.B. (1972), A Panorama of Indo-European Languages, London, Hutchinson.
Robins, R.H. (1967), A Short History of Linguistics, London, Longman.
Ruhlen, M. (1975), A Guide to the Languages of the World, Language Universals Project, Stanford
University.