http://anthropology.tamu.edu/news.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/uocp-soa080205.php
Public release date: 2-Aug-2005
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Contact: Carrie Olivia Adams
coa@press.uchicago.edu
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University of Chicago Press Journals
Studies of Amazonian languages challenge linguistic theories
Two studies that appear in the August/October 2005 issue of Current
Anthropology challenge established linguistic theories regarding the
language families of Amazonia.
New research by Dan Everett (University of Manchester) into the language of
the Piraha~ people of Amazonas, Brazil disputes two prominent linguistic ideas
regarding grammar and translation. The Piraha~ are intelligent, highly skilled
hunters and fishers who speak a language remarkable for the complexity of
its verb and sound systems. Yet, the Piraha~ language and culture has
several features that not known to exist in any other in the world and lacks
features that have been assumed to be found in all human groups. The
language does not have color words or grammatical devices for putting
phrases inside other phrases. They do not have fiction or creation myths,
and they have a lack of numbers and counting. Despite 200 years of contact,
they have steadfastly refused to learn Portuguese or any other outside
language. The unifying feature behind all of these characteristics is a
cultural restriction against talking about things that extend beyond
personal experience. This restriction counters claims of linguists, such as
Noam Chomsky, that grammar is genetically driven system with universal
features. Despite the absence of these allegedly universal features, the
Piraha~ communicate effectively with one another and coordinate simple
tasks. Moreover, Piraha~ suggests that it is not always possible to
translate from one language to another.
In addition, Alf Hornborg's (Lund University) research into the Arawak
language family counters the common interpretation that the geographical
distribution of languages in Amazonia reflects the past migrations of the
inhabitants. At the time of Christopher Columbus, the Arawak language family
ranged from Cuba to Bolivia. Yet, geneticists have been unable to find
significant correlations between genes and languages in the Amazonia.
Moreover, Arawakan languages spoken in different areas show more
similarities to their non-Arawakan neighbors than to each other, suggesting
that they may derive from an early trade language. As well, Arawak languages
are distributed along major rivers and coastlines that served as trade routes,
and Arawak societies were dedicated to trade and intermarriage with other
groups. But, the dispersed network of Arawak-speaking societies may have
caused ethnic wedges between other, more consolidated language families with
which they would have engaged in trade and warfare. Finally, there is
increased evidence that language shifts were common occurrences among the
peoples of Amazonia and were used as a way to signal a change in identity,
particularly when entering into alliances, rather than migratory movement.
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