The Amazonian Languages [Paperback]

An overview of one of the richest and most complex linguistic regions in the world, the Amazon Basin.The Amazon Basin is the least known and most complex linguistic region in the world today. It is the home of some 300 languages many of which (often incompletely documented and mostly endangered) show properties that constitute exceptions to received ideas about linguistic universals. This book is the first in English to provide an accessible overview of this rich and exciting linguistic area. It will provide a basis for further research on Amazonian languages as well as a point of entry to important data for theoretical linguists.The Amazon Basin is the least known and most complex linguistic region in the world today. It is the home of some 300 languages many of which (often incompletely documented and mostly endangered) show properties that constitute exceptions to received ideas about linguistic universals. This book is the first in English to provide an accessible overview of this rich and exciting linguistic area. It will provide a basis for further research on Amazonian languages as well as a point of entry to important data for theoretical linguists.The Amazon Basin is the least known and the most complex linguistic region in the world today. It is the home of some 300 languages many of which (often incompletely documented and mostly endangered) show properties that constitute exceptions to received ideas about linguistic universals. This book is the first in English to provide an accessible overview of this rich and exciting linguistic area. It will provide a basis for further research on Amazonian languages as well as a point of entry to important data for theoretical linguists.List of maps; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Conventions followed; 1. Introduction R. M. W. Dixon and Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald; 2. Carib Desmond C. Derbyshire; 3. The Arawak language family Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald; 4. Tup? Aryon D. Rodrigues; 5. Tls3