Amazonia aikhenvald

Oxford University Press, 2002

A comprehensive study of language contact in north-west Amazonia

International Journal of American Linguistics, 2005

Overview of linguistic areality and language contact in Greater Amazonia

Studies in Language, 2005

Language and Linguistics Compass, 2009

The linguistic map of Amazonia presents a startling jumble of languages and language families. While some families – most notably Carib, Arawak, Macro-Jê, and Tupí– are distributed widely throughout the region, their spread is interspersed with many dozens of tiny, localized families and language isolates, particularly in the Amazonian periphery. At the same time, distributions of lexical, grammatical, and phonological features suggest that this linguistic patchwork is overlaid in places by contact regions, where multilingualism has fostered lexical and/or structural resemblances among languages. This complex distribution of languages and linguistic features presents many challenges to our understanding of Amazonian prehistory. How did Amazonia's language families arrive at their present distribution? Why did some families spread over huge distances, while others came to occupy only tiny geographical pockets or are limited to a single language? What kinds of interactions among peoples led to the formation of contact zones, and how are these regions defined? Complicating these questions further is the fact that very little is known about many Amazonian languages, and relationships among them are in many cases a matter of conjecture. This article surveys our current understanding of language classification and language contact in Amazonia, and addresses various perspectives concerning the implications of these relationships for Amazonian prehistory.

The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, 2013

The Vaupés River Basin in north-west Amazonia is a well-established linguistic area characterised by obligatory multilingualism and exogamy based on linguistic allegiance. The core members of the area who take part in the multilingual marriage network are speakers of East Tucanoan languages and of one Arawak language, Tariana. The impact of East Tucanoan influence on Tariana is recognizable through structural diffusion. Two dialects of Tariana are currently spoken. Wamiarikune Tariana (W-Tariana), with a few speakers in the middle Vaupés area, is highly endangered; it is under strong pressure of Tucano. Kumandene Tariana (K-Tariana), also endangered, is spoken in the community of Santa Terezinha on the Iauarí river (tributary of the Lower Vaupés). The K-Tariana moved to their present location from Iauaretê on the middle Vaupés two generations ago, escaping pressure from Catholic missionaries. The K-Tariana intermarry with the Baniwa Hohôdene, speakers of a closely related language, now the major language in their village. Over the past fifty years, speakers of K-Tariana have acquired numerous Baniwa features. This can be seen through comparison with older sources on this dialect. At present, the degree of Baniwa impact on Kumandene Tariana varies depending on the speaker, and on the audience. The result is a curious language blend. We discuss the status of K-Tariana in the context of other blended, or 'merged' languages.

The Languages of the Amazon, 2012

The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics

Tipiti Journal of the Society For the Anthropology of Lowland South America, 2013