Amerind is a hypothetical higher-level language family proposed by

Joseph Greenberg Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915 – May 7, 2001) was an American linguist, known mainly for his work concerning linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages. Life Early life and education Joseph Greenberg was born on M ...

in 1960 and elaborated by his student

Merritt Ruhlen Merritt Ruhlen (May 10, 1944 – January 29, 2021) was an American linguist who worked on the classification of languages and what this reveals about the origin and evolution of modern humans. Amongst other linguists, Ruhlen's work was recognized ...

. Greenberg proposed that all of the

indigenous languages of the Americas Over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large num ...

belong to one of three

language families A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in his ...

, the previously established

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut (), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of w ...

and Na–Dene, and with everything else—otherwise classified by specialists as belonging to dozens of independent families—as Amerind. Due to a large number of methodological flaws in the 1987 book ''Language in the Americas'', the relationships he proposed between these languages have been rejected by the majority of historical linguists as spurious.Campbell 1997Adelaar 1989Berman 1992Chafe 1987Matisoff 1990Kimball 1992Mithun 1999Poser 1992Rankin 1992 The term ''Amerind'' is also occasionally used to refer broadly to the various

without necessarily implying that they are a

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

group. To avoid ambiguity, the term Amerindian is often used for the latter meaning.

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 Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (born Pierre-Étienne du Ponceau, June 3, 1760 – April 1, 1844) was a French-American linguist, philosopher, and jurist. After emigrating to the colonies in 1777, he served in the American Revolutionary War. Afterward, ...

and

Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named after ...

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 In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...

. Among the most prolific and gifted linguists of his times was

Edward Sapir Edward Sapir (; January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American Jewish anthropologist- linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States. Sa ...

, 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 Linguistic reconstruction is the practice of establishing the features of an unattested ancestor language of one or more given languages. There are two kinds of reconstruction: * Internal reconstruction uses irregularities in a single language ...

—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 Paul Rivet (7 May 1876, Wasigny, Ardennes – 21 March 1958) was a French ethnologist known for founding the Musée de l'Homme in 1937. In his professional work, Rivet is known for his theory that South America was originally populated in p ...

Pronouns

The main argument for the validity of Amerind is a 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. Sapir suggested that it indicated that ultimately all Native American languages would turn out to be related. However, it is not universal, being confined primarily to western North America and to a lesser extent Mesoamerica; the incidence elsewhere is not statistically significant, and in western North American it is more an argument for the Hokan and Penutian phyla than for Amerind.Raoul Zamponi (2017) 'First-person n and second-person m in Native America: a fresh look'. ''Italian Journal of Linguistics'', 29.2

Gender

Ruhlen reconstructed a morphological (

ablaut In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut (, from German '' Ablaut'' ) is a system of apophony (regular vowel variations) in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). An example of ablaut in English is the strong verb ''sing, sang, sung'' and i ...

) gender system for proto-Amerind, with masculine kinship terms containing the vowel *i and feminine the vowel *u, that he claims proves Greenberg's reconstruction. This is based on Greenberg's *t'a'na 'child', to which Ruhlen adds a masculine derivation *t'i'na 'son, boy' and a feminine *t'u'na 'daughter, girl'. Unlike the n-/m- pattern in the pronouns, an intact i/u gender system is not attested across language families, and the consensus is that the pattern is a spurious one.

Reception

The consensus among historical linguists specializing in Native American languages is that the Amerind hypothesis is unsupported by valid evidence,Mithun 1999 particularly because the basis for the proposal is

mass comparison Mass comparison is a method developed by Joseph Greenberg to determine the level of genetic relatedness between languages. It is now usually called multilateral comparison. The method is rejected by most linguists , though not all. Some of the t ...

, but also because of many other methodological flaws made by Greenberg in the elaboration of the hypothesis.Matisoff 1990Rankin 1992Campbell 1988 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.Adelaar 1989Berman 1992Chafe 1987Kimball 1992Poser 1992 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 Morris Swadesh (; January 22, 1909 – July 20, 1967) was an American linguist who specialized in comparative and historical linguistics. Swadesh was born in Massachusetts to Bessarabian Jewish immigrant parents. He completed bachelor's and mas ...

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: #Almosan–Keresiouan #Hokan #Penutian (incl. Macro-Mayan) #Aztec–Tanoan #Oto-Mangean #''

Purépecha The Purépecha (endonym pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the pejorative " Tarascan ...

'' #Macro-Chibchan ##Chibchan ##Paezan #Andean–Equatorial ##Andean ##Jivaroan ##Macro-Tucanoan ##Equatorial (with Macro-Arawakan and Tupian) #Ge–Pano–Carib ##Macro-Ge ##Macro-Panoan ##Macro-Carib ##'' Nambikwara'' ##''

Huarpe The Huarpes or Warpes are an indigenous people of Argentina, living in the Cuyo region. Some scholars assume that in the Huarpe language, this word means "sandy ground," but according to ''Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua general del Reino de Chi ...

'' ##'' 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. # North–Central Amerind ## Northern Amerind ### Almosan–Keresiouan #### Almosan #####

Algic The Algic languages (also Algonquian–Wiyot–Yurok or Algonquian–Ritwan) are an indigenous language family of North America. Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian subfamily, dispersed over a broad area from the Rocky Mountains to ...

#####

Kutenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

##### Mosan ###### Chimakuan ###### Salishan ###### Wakashan #### Keresiouan #####

Caddoan The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of ...

#####

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoia ...

#####

Keresan Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of eac ...

##### Siouan–Yuchi ######

Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the enti ...

######

Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, ...

### Penutian–Hokan #### Penutian #####

Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only ...

##### Chinook #####

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

#####

Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

##### California ###### Maiduan ###### Miwok–Costanoan ######

Wintun The Wintun are members of several related Native American peoples of Northern California, including the Wintu (northern), Nomlaki (central), and Patwin (southern).Pritzker, 152 Yokutsan Yokuts, formerly known as Mariposa, is an endangered language spoken in the interior of Northern and Central California in and around the San Joaquin Valley by the Yokuts people. The speakers of Yokuts were severely affected by disease, mission ...

##### Zuni ##### Gulf ######

Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct ba ...

######

Chitimacha The Chitimacha ( ; or ) are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who live in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly on their reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charenton on Bayou Teche. They are the only Indigenous people in the s ...

######

Muskogean Muskogean (also Muskhogean, Muskogee) is a Native American language family spoken in different areas of the Southeastern United States. Though the debate concerning their interrelationships is ongoing, the Muskogean languages are generally div ...

###### Natchez ###### Tunica ###### Yukian ####### Yuki #######

Wappo The Wappo (endonym: ''Micewal'') are an indigenous people of northern California. Their traditional homelands are in Napa Valley, the south shore of Clear Lake, Alexander Valley, and Russian River valley. They are distantly related to the Yuki ...

##### Mexican Penutian ###### Huave ###### Mayan ###### Mixe–Zoque ######

Totonac The Totonac are an indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a cit ...

#### Hokan ##### Northern Hokan ###### Karok–Shasta #######

Karok The Karuk people are an indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. Karuks are also enrolled in two other federally recognized tribes, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad ...

####### Chimariko ####### Shasta–Achomawi ######## Shasta ########

Achomawi Achomawi (also Achumawi, Ajumawi and Ahjumawi), are the northerly nine (out of eleven) bands of the Pit River tribe of Palaihnihan Native Americans who live in what is now northeastern California in the United States. These 5 autonomous ban ...

###### Yana ###### Pomoan ##### Washo ##### Salinan–Chumash ######

Salinan The Salinan are a Native American tribe whose ancestral territory is in the southern Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Range in the Central Coast of California. Today, the Salinan governments are now working toward federal tribal recognition f ...

###### Chumash ######

Esselen The Esselen are a Native American people belonging to a linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family, who are indigenous to the Santa Lucia Mountains of a region south of the Big Sur River in Big Sur, Monterey County, Cal ...

##### Seri–Yuman ###### Seri ###### Yuman ##### Waicuri–Quinigua ###### Waicuri ###### Maratino ###### Quinigua ##### Coahuiltecan ##### Tequistlatec ##### Subtiaba ##### Jicaque ##### Yurumangui ## Central Amerind ###

Tanoan Tanoan , also Kiowa–Tanoan or Tanoan–Kiowa, is a family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples in present-day New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of the languages – Tiwa (Taos, Picuris, Southern Tiwa), Tewa, and Towa � ...

### Uto-Aztekan ### Oto-Manguean # Southern Amerind ## Andean–Chibchan–Paezan ### Chibchan–Paezan #### Macro-Chibchan ##### Cuitlatec #####

Lenca The Lenca or Lepawiran "people of the jaguar" are from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They once spoke many Dialects such as Chilanga, Putun, Kotik etc. Although there were different dialects, they un ...

##### Chibchan ##### Paya #####

#####

Yanomam Yanomaman, also as Yanomam, Yanomáman, Yamomámi, and Yanomamana (also Shamatari, Shirianan), is a family of languages spoken by about 20,000 Yanomami people in southern Venezuela and northwestern Brazil (Roraima, Amazonas). Subdivision F ...

##### Yunca–Puruhan ####

Macro-Paezan Macro-Paesan (also spelled Macro-Paezan) is a proposal linking several small families and language isolates of northwest South America. Kaufman (2007) proposes the structure at the right. Paez–Barbacoan is commonly proposed, though Curnow (1998) ...

#####

Allentiac Allentiac (Alyentiyak), also known as Huarpe (Warpe), was one of two known Warpean languages. It was native to Cuyo in Argentina, but was displaced to Chile in the late 16th century. Luis de Valdivia, a Jesuit missionary, wrote a grammar, voca ...

##### Atacama ##### Betoi ##### Chimu–Mochita #####

Itonama Itonama is a moribund language isolate spoken by the Itonama people in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern Bolivia. Greenberg’s (1987) classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama co ...

#####

Jirajara Jirajara is an extinct language of western Venezuela. Other than being part of the Jirajaran family, its classification is uncertain due to a lack of data. See Jirajaran languages The Jirajaran languages are group of extinct languages once spo ...

##### Mura ##### Paezan #####

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...

##### Warrao ### Andean #### Aymara #### Itucale–Sabela ##### Itucale ##### Mayna ##### Sabela #### Cahuapana–Zaparo ##### Cahuapana ##### Zaparo #### Northern Andean ##### Catacao ##### Cholona ##### Culli ##### Leco ##### Sechura #### Quechua #### Southern Andean ##### Qawasqar ##### Mapudungu ##### Gennaken ##### Chon ##### Yamana ## Equatorial–Tucanoan ### Equatorial ####

Macro-Arawakan Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean centered on the Arawakan languages. Sometimes, the proposal is called Arawakan, and the central family is called ''Maipurean''. Proposals Kaufman (1990) includes the ...

#### Cayuvava #### Coche #### Jivaro–Kandoshi ##### Cofán ##### Esmeralda ##### Jivaro ##### Kandoshi ##### Yaruro ####

Kariri Kiriri people are indigenous peoples of Brazil, indigenous people of Eastern Brazil. Their name is also spelled Cariri or Kariri and is a Tupi language, Tupi word meaning "silent" or "tactiturn." History The French Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, ...

– Tupi #### Piaroa #### Taruma ####

Timote Timote is a settlement in Carlos Tejedor '' partido'', Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Location It is 18 km east from Carlos Tejedor, its accesses are over 68 and 70 Provincial Roads. Population According to 2010 INDEC National Censu ...

#### Trumai #### Tusha #### Yuracaré ####

Zamuco The Ayoreo (Ayoreode, Ayoréo, Ayoréode) are an indigenous people of the Gran Chaco. They live in an area surrounded by the Paraguay, Pilcomayo, Parapetí, and Grande Rivers, spanning both Bolivia and Paraguay. There are approximately 5,600 ...

### Macro-Tucanoan #### Auixiri ####

Canichana Canichana, or Canesi, Joaquiniano, is a possible language isolate of Bolivia (department of Beni). In 1991 there were 500 Canichana people, but only 20 spoke the Canichana language; by 2000 the ethnic population was 583, but the language had no L ...

#### Capixana #### Catuquina #### Gamella #### Huari #### Iranshe #### Kaliana–Maku #### Koaia ####

Movima Movima is a language that is spoken by about 1,400 (nearly half) of the Movima, a group of Native Americans that resides in the Llanos de Moxos region of the Bolivian Amazon, in northeastern Bolivia. It is considered a language isolate, as it h ...

#### Muniche #### Nambikwara #### Natu #### Pankaruru #### Puinave #### Shukuru #### Ticuna–Yuri ####

Tucanoan Tucanoan (also Tukanoan, Tukánoan) is a language family of Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Arutani, Paez, Sape, Taruma, Witoto-Okaina, Saliba-Hodi, ...

####

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

## Ge–Pano–Carib ### Macro-Carib #### Andoke #### Bora–Uitoto #### Carib ####

Kukura Kukura may be, * Juraj Kukura (born 1947), Slovak actor * Philipp Kukura (born 1978), Slovak physical chemist *Kukurá language Kukurá (Cucurá, Kokura) is a spurious language, fabricated by an interpreter in Brazil. History When Alberto Vo ...

purious#### Yagua ### Macro-Panoan #### Charruan #### Lengua #### Lule–Vilela #### Mataco–Guaicuru #### Moseten #### Pano–Tacanan ### Macro-Gê ####

Bororo The Bororo are indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Mato Grosso. They also extended into Bolivia and the Brazilian state of Goiás. The Western Bororo live around the Jauru and Cabaçal rivers. The Eastern Bororo ( Orarimogodoge) ...

#### Botocudo #### Caraja #### Chiquito #### Erikbatsa #### Fulnio #### Ge–Kaingang #### Guató #### Kamakan #### Mashakali #### Opaie #### Oti ####

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as ''S ...

#### Yabuti

Notes

References

* Adelaar, Willem F. H. (1989). eview of Greenberg, ''Language in the Americas'' '' Lingua'', ''78'', 249-255. * Berman, Howard. (1992). A comment on the Yurok and Kalapuya data in Greenberg's Language in the Americas. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''58'' (2), 230-233. * Bonnichsen, Robson; & Steele, D. Gentry (Eds.). (1994). ''Method and theory for investigating the peopling of the Americas''. Peopling of the Americas publications. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University, Center for the Study of the First Americans. . * Campbell, Lyle. (1988). eview of ''Language in the Americas'', Greenberg 1987 ''Language'', ''64'', 591-615. * Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press. . *Campbell, Lyle; Poser, William J. (2008) Language Classification, History and Method, Cambridge University Press * Chafe, Wallace. (1987). eview of Greenberg 1987 ''Current Anthropology'', ''28'', 652-653. * * Goddard, Ives. (1987). eview of Joseph Greenberg, ''Language in the Americas'' ''Current Anthropology'', ''28'', 656-657. * Goddard, Ives. (1990). eview of ''Language in the Americas'' by Joseph H. Greenberg ''Linguistics'', ''28'', 556-558. * Goddard, Ives. (1996). The classification of native languages of North America. In I. Goddard (Ed.), ''Languages'' (pp. 290–323). Handbook of North Americans Indians (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. * Goddard, Ives (Ed.). (1996). ''Languages''. Handbook of North American Indians (W. C. Sturtevant, General Ed.) (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. . * Goddard, Ives; & Campbell, Lyle. (1994). The history and classification of American Indian languages: What are the implications for the peopling of the Americas?. In R. Bonnichsen & D. Steele (Eds.), ''Method and theory for investigating the peopling of the Americas'' (pp. 189–207). Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University. * Golla, Victor. (1987). eview of Joseph H. Greenberg: ''Language in the Americas'' ''Current Anthropology'', ''28'', 657-659. * Golla, Victor. (1988). eview of ''Language in the Americas'', by Joseph Greenberg ''American Anthropologist'', ''90'', 434-435. * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1960). General classification of Central and South American languages. In A. Wallace (Ed.), ''Men and cultures: Fifth international congress of anthropological and ethnological sciences (1956)'' (pp. 791–794). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). ''Language in the Americas''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). Language in the Americas: Author's précis. ''Current Anthropology'', ''28'', 647-652. * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1989). Classification of American Indian languages: A reply to Campbell. ''Language'', ''65'', 107-114. * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1996). In defense of Amerind. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''62'', 131-164. * * Kimball, Geoffrey. (1992). A critique of Muskogean, 'Gulf,' and Yukian materials in Language in the Americas. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''58'', 447-501. * Matisoff, James. (1990). On megalo-comparison: A discussion note. ''Language'', ''66'', 106-120. * Mithun, Marianne. (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (hbk); . * PDF
* Rankin, Robert. (1992). eview of ''Language in the Americas'' by J. H. Greenberg ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''58'' (3), 324-351. * Ringe, Don (2000). Some relevant facts about historical linguistics. In: Renfrew, Colin (Ed.), ''America Past, America Present: Genes and Languages in the Americas and Beyond'' (pp. 139–62). Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Google.books: Greenberg, Joseph. 'Language in the Americas'. 1987.
* Th
home page of Merritt Ruhlen
one of the advocates of the Amerind hypothesis. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amerind Languages Proposed language families

Background

Pronouns

Gender

Reception

Classification

See also

Notes

References

External links