Native American languages are spoken from Siberia to Greenland. Campbell's project is to take stock of what is known about the history of Native American languages and in the process examine the state of American Indian historical linguistics.

This book provides an authoritative survey of the several hundred languages indigenous to North America. These languages show tremendous genetic and typological diversity, and offer numerous challenges to current linguistic theory. Part I of the book provides an overview of structural features of particular interest, concentrating on those that are cross-linguistically unusual or unusually well developed. These include syllable structure, vowel and consonant harmony, tone, and sound symbolism; polysynthesis, the nature of roots and affixes, incorporation, and morpheme order; case; grammatical distinctions of number, gender, shape, control, location, means, manner, time, empathy, and evidence; and distinctions between nouns and verbs, predicates and arguments, and simple and complex sentences; and special speech styles. Part II catalogues the languages by family, listing the location of each language, its genetic affiliation, number of speakers, major published literature, and structural highlights. Finally, there is a catalogue of languages that have evolved in contact situations.

This collection of 31 articles (dedicated to Margaret Langdon) represents the multitude of approaches to Native American languages taken by linguists today. Half of the essays treat Hokan languages, but Uto-Aztecan, Penutian, Muskogean, Iroquoian, Mayan, and other groups are also represented, with pieces on phonology, syntax, the lexicon, and discourse.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Two major anthropological works study the roots, structure, and classification of Indian languages.

"Victor Golla has been the leading scholar of California Indian languages for most of his professional life, and this book shows why. His ability to synthesize centuries of fieldwork and writings while bringing forward new ideas and fresh ways of looking at California’s famous linguistic diversity will make this the primary text for anyone interested in California languages."--Leanne Hinton, Professor Emerita of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley and author of How to Keep Your Language Alive “This book is a wonderful contribution that only Golla could have written. It is a perfect confluence of author and subject matter.”--Ives Goddard, Senior Linguist, Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution "Golla is a gifted polymath and California Indian Languages is certainly his landmark achievement, required reading for any linguist, archaeologist, ethnographer, or historian interested in aboriginal California."--Robert L. Bettinger, Professor of Anthropology, University of California Davis and author of Hunter-Gatherer Foraging "The preeminent figure in his field, Victor Golla has written a masterpiece filled with treasures for every audience: Indian communities working toward cultural and linguistic revival; general readers interested in the many cultures of Native California; and scholars in the fields of language, archaeology, and prehistory. The information here is so detailed that it supersedes all previous reference works."--Andrew Garrett, Professor of Linguistics, University of California Berkeley and Director, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages “This is a truly magnificent work, at once authoritative, comprehensive, accessible to a wide readership, and fascinating. Masterfully integrating linguistic, archaeological, historical, and cultural information, the author describes not just the languages, but also the major figures in the story: speakers, explorers, missionaries, and scholars. It is beautifully written, a great pleasure to read, and difficult to put down."--Marianne Mithun, author of The Languages of Native North America

The collection explores new applications of the American Philosophical Society’s library materials as scholars seek to partner on collaborative projects, often through the application of digital technologies, that assist ongoing efforts at cultural and linguistic revitalization movements within Native communities.