Language in the Americas: Out of Beringia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37536/LYM.13.2.2021.992Keywords:
linguistic typology, human evolution, language evolution, language universalsAbstract
Linguistically, the Western Hemisphere harbors a great typological
diversity, by some estimates, the greatest in the world. Controversy
regarding classification aside, much work lies ahead to identify the
movements up through to include the final leg of the journey of
modern humans, in terms of distance travelled from our continent of
origin, to Tierra del Fuego. This article will briefly summarize the
advances that the language sciences have made in describing these
migrations and the languages that accompanied them, to then discuss
viable proposals for collaboration with other fields. Such an interdisciplinary
program of study is necessary because the tools of linguistics
do not suffice. Continuing work on the processes of origin, dispersion
and convergence will help us better understand fundamental
properties of language. Research on the description of individual
languages and how they can be classified will contribute to this
understanding. For speakers and students of the American languages,
these advances will also contribute to the recovery of the cultural
heritage that is associated with historical language change.
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