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Amerind
Amerind
(Obsolete)
Geographic; distribution	Americas
Linguistic classification	Proposed language family
Subdivisions	Almosan–Keresiouan; Hokan–Penutian; Central Amerind; Andean–Chibchan–Paezan; Equatorial–Tucanoan; Ge–Pano–Carib;
Language codes
Glottolog	None
	Present distribution of proposed Amerind languages

Amerind is a hypothetical higher-level language family proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1960 and elaborated by his student Merritt Ruhlen.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Greenberg proposed that all of the indigenous languages of the Americas belong to one of three language families, the previously established Eskimo–Aleut and Na–Dene, and with everything else—otherwise classified by specialists as belonging to dozens of independent families—as Amerind. Because of a large number of methodological disagreements with 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.^[5]

The term Amerind is also occasionally used to refer broadly to the various indigenous languages of the Americas without necessarily implying that they are a genealogical 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 and Wilhelm von Humboldt 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.

Among the most prolific and gifted linguists of his times was Edward Sapir, 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—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.

Pronouns

Cherry-picked similarities in pronouns^[6]
Language	Family	1sg	2sg
Karok	(isolate)	na	'im
Kiliwa^[7]	Yuman	ñap	may
Nahuatl^[8]	Uto-Aztecan	no-	mo-
Arhuaco	Chibchan	nən	ma
Aymara	Aymaran	naya	juma
Mapudungun^[9]	Araucanian	-n	eymi, -m

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.^[10] 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.^[11]

Gender

Ruhlen reconstructed a morphological (ablaut) 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.^[12] 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,^[13]^[14]^[15] particularly because the basis for the proposal is mass comparison, but also because of many other methodological flaws made by Greenberg in the elaboration of the hypothesis.^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[22]^[18]

While sympathetic to the idea of an Amerind language family, Morris Swadesh was critical of many of Greenberg's subdivisions and believed it was due to an insufficient number of comparisons by Greenberg.^[23]

Classification

The 1960 proposal, in its outlines, was as follows:

Amerind
- Almosan-Keresiouan
- Hokan
- Penutian (incl. Macro-Mayan)
- Aztec-Tanoan
- Oto-Manguean
- Purépecha
- 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
  - 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.

Amerind
- North–Central Amerind
  - Northern Amerind
    - Almosan–Keresiouan
      - Almosan
        Algic
        
        Kutenai
        
        Mosan
        Chimakuan
        
        Salishan
        
        Wakashan
      - Keresiouan
        Caddoan
        
        Iroquoian
        
        Keresan
        
        Siouan–Yuchi
        Siouan
        
        Yuchi
    - Penutian–Hokan
      - Penutian
        Tsimshian
        
        Chinook
        
        Oregon
        
        Plateau
        
        California
        Maiduan
        
        Miwok–Costanoan
        
        Wintun
        
        Yokutsan
        
        Zuni
        
        Gulf
        Atakapa
        
        Chitimacha
        
        Muskogean
        
        Natchez
        
        Tunica
        
        Yukian
        Yuki
        
        Wappo
        
        Mexican Penutian
        Huave
        
        Mayan
        
        Mixe–Zoque
        
        Totonac
      - Hokan
        Northern Hokan
        Karok–Shasta
        Karok
        
        Chimariko
        
        Shasta–Achomawi
        Shasta
        
        Achomawi
        
        Yana
        
        Pomoan
        
        Washo
        
        Salinan–Chumash
        Salinan
        
        Chumash
        
        Esselen
        
        Seri–Yuman
        Seri
        
        Yuman
        
        Waicuri–Quinigua
        Waicuri
        
        Maratino
        
        Quinigua
        
        Coahuiltecan
        
        Tequistlatec
        
        Subtiaba
        
        Jicaque
        
        Yurumangui
  - Central Amerind
- Southern Amerind
  - Andean–Chibchan–Paezan
    - Chibchan–Paezan
      - Macro-Chibchan
        Cuitlatec
        
        Lenca
        
        Chibchan (including Misumalpan)
        
        Paya
        
        Purépecha
        
        Yanomam
        
        Yunca–Puruhan
      - Macro-Paezan
        Allentiac
        
        Atacama
        
        Betoi
        
        Chimu
        
        Itonama
        
        Jirajara
        
        Mura
        
        Paezan
        
        Timucua
        
        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
        Guahibo
        
        Katembri
        
        Otomaco
        
        Tinigua
        
        Arawakan
        Arawa
        
        Maipuran
        
        Chapacura
        
        Guamo
        
        Uro (including Puquina)
      - Cayuvava
      - Coche
      - Jivaro–Kandoshi
        Cofán
        
        Esmeralda
        
        Jivaro
        
        Kandoshi
        
        Yaruro
      - Kariri–Tupi
      - Piaroa
      - Taruma
      - Timote
      - Trumai
      - Tusha
      - Yuracaré
      - Zamuco
    - Macro-Tucanoan
      - Auixiri
      - Canichana
      - Capixana
      - Catuquina
      - Gamella
      - Huari
      - Iranshe
      - Kaliana–Maku
      - Koaia
      - Movima
      - Muniche
      - Nambikwara
      - Natu
      - Pankaruru
      - Puinave
      - Shukuru
      - Ticuna–Yuri
      - Tucanoan
      - Uman
  - Ge–Pano–Carib
    - Macro-Carib
      - Andoke
      - Bora–Uitoto
      - Carib
      - Kukura [spurious]
      - Yagua
    - Macro-Panoan
    - Macro-Gê
      - Bororo
      - Botocudo
      - Caraja
      - Chiquito
      - Erikbatsa
      - Fulnio
      - Ge–Kaingang
      - Guató
      - Kamakan
      - Mashakali
      - Opaie
      - Oti
      - Puri
      - Yabuti

Notes

^ Greenberg & Ruhlen 2007
^ Ruhlen 1994a
^ Ruhlen 1994b
^ Ruhlen 2004
^ Campbell 1988
^ http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/ids Archived 2010-08-19 at the Wayback Machine With the Intercontinental Dictionary Series, topical vocabulary lists from different languages can be viewed side-by-side when generated using advanced browsing.
^ "AULEX - Diccionario Español - Kiliwa en línea". aulex.org. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
^ Possessive prefixes are used. Pronouns and pronominal prefixes have an n-, t-, y-/Ø pattern.
^ "WOLD -". wold.clld.org. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
^ Merritt Ruhlen, "First- and Second-Person Pronouns in the World's Languages," pp. 252–60. http://www.merrittruhlen.com/files/Pronouns.pdf Archived 2017-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
^ Raoul Zamponi (2017) 'First-person n and second-person m in Native America: a fresh look'. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 29.2
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2017-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Campbell 1997
^ Mithun 1999
^ Goddard 1996
^ Matisoff 1990
^ Rankin 1992
^ ^a ^b Campbell 1988
^ Goddard 1987
^ Goddard 1990
^ Ringe 2000
^ Poser 1992
^ Hamp, Eric P.; Swadesh, Morris; Taylor, Douglas; Aschmann, Homer (1963). "On Aboriginal Languages of Latin America". Current Anthropology. 4 (3): 317–319. doi:10.1086/200380. JSTOR 2739615. S2CID 143498394.

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