Languages of the Amazon basin are among the most fascinating in the world. This is where one finds unusual sounds, unexpected ways of classifying nouns, elaborate positional verbs, to name just a few features. Most Amazonian languages have been in contact with each other for many generations. Many people are multilingual, and the unusual patterns of multilingualism have given rise to intriguing patterns of language contact, extensive linguistic areas, and numerous features shared due to contact between people There are over 300 languages grouped into over fifteen language families, plus a fair ... More

Languages of the Amazon basin are among the most fascinating in the world. This is where one finds unusual sounds, unexpected ways of classifying nouns, elaborate positional verbs, to name just a few features. Most Amazonian languages have been in contact with each other for many generations. Many people are multilingual, and the unusual patterns of multilingualism have given rise to intriguing patterns of language contact, extensive linguistic areas, and numerous features shared due to contact between people There are over 300 languages grouped into over fifteen language families, plus a fair number of isolates. The six major linguistic families of the Amazon basin are Arawak, Tupí, Carib, Panoan, Tucanoan and Macro‐Jê; smaller families include Makú, Guahibo, Yanomami, Witotoan, Zaparoan, Tacana, Harakmbet, Arawá and Chapacuran. Discussion in the book also includes, albeit in more cursory fashion, language families spoken in the areas adjacent to Lowland Amazonia: Chibchan, Barbacoan, Choco, and Guaicuruan. The book starts with a potted history of Amazonian peoples and their languages, and the disastrous effects of the European invasion. After a brief discussion of cultural aspects and people's lifestyle, the profile of each major and minor family are outlined. There is then discussion of the unusual patterns of language contact and multilingual interaction. Further chapters discuss the sounds of Amazonian languages; the ways in which they express possession, gender, and time and tense. In many Amazonian languages one needs to always state how one knows things, known as the category of ‘evidentiality’. Amazonian languages are relatively poor in number words, but rich in elaborate speech styles and means of expression. The book offers extensive examples, many from author's own fieldwork in Amazonia.