{"id":674,"date":"2010-05-21T22:00:44","date_gmt":"2010-05-21T20:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elanguage.net\/blogs\/booknotices\/?p=674"},"modified":"2010-05-11T12:26:34","modified_gmt":"2010-05-11T10:26:34","slug":"language-contact-in-amazonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/?p=674","title":{"rendered":"Language contact in Amazonia"},"content":{"rendered":"
Language contact in Amazonia.<\/strong> By Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald<\/strong>.\u00a0 Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pp. xxv, 363. ISBN 019925785X<\/a>. $48.99.<\/div>\n

Reviewed by George L. Huttar<\/a><\/strong>, SIL<\/em><\/p>\n

This book aims \u2018to provide a systematic analysis of contact-induced language change between two reasonably well-documented, genetically unrelated and typologically different language families north of the Amazon\u2014North Arawak and Tucanoan\u2019 (2). It succeeds well, thereby answering Aikhenvald\u2019s call for in-depth studies as a basis for inductive generalizations that can be made to distinguish (the kinds of) interlanguage similarities \u2018due to genetic inheritance and those due to borrowing\u2019 (1).<\/p>\n

Four situations in the Vaup\u00e9s area of Colombia and Brazil are described, along with their effects on the languages involved, within a typology of language contact: (i) several East Tucanoan languages and N. Arawak Tariana (multilateral areal diffusion, no diglossia, no dominance), (ii) Central Tucanoan Retuar\u00e3 and N. Arawak Yucuna (two languages, no diglossia, no dominance), (iii) E. Tucanoan Tucano and Tariana (two languages, no diglossia, dominance), and (iv) Portuguese and Tariana (two languages, diglossia, possible incipient dominance). Most of the book provides a detailed account of (iii), but the other situations are treated sufficiently to provide a valuable basis for comparison that will interest historical linguists, sociologists of language, and, to some extent, creolists.<\/p>\n

After Ch. 1 (1\u201331) lays out the questions to be addressed and sketches the general language contact setting, Chs. 2\u20136 describe in detail the effects of Tucano on Tariana (with brief reference also to Retuar\u00e3 and Yucuna) phonology (33\u201357), typological profile and pronominal systems (59\u201376), nominal categories (77\u2013111), verbal categories (113\u201351), and syntax and (briefly) discourse (153\u201373). While the main impact is the pervasiveness of E. Tucanoan structures throughout Tariana (in contrast with genetically and geographically close Baniwa), the reader also gets a good introduction to Tucanoan and N. Arawak structures, particularly in morphosyntax.<\/p>\n

Ch. 7 (175\u201386) describes the effects of Portuguese on Tariana, and Ch. 8 (187\u2013211) examines code-switching and code-mixing of four sorts: Tariana with E. Tucanoan languages, with Baniwa, and with Portuguese; and the mixing of Tariana dialects. Even more than elsewhere in the book, the strong value prohibiting any dilution of one\u2019s Tariana, and the ridicule meeting any violations, come through very clearly. But also clearly presented are situations where mixing is more allowable\u2014such as the use of \u2018a language distinct from that of the narrative\u2019 (191) for the speech of nonhumans, and recourse to Portuguese to refer to \u2018white man\u2019s things\u2019.<\/p>\n

In Ch. 9 (213\u201321), A\u2019s description of linguistic awareness among the Tariana lays a further foundation for the generalizations about language contact and change presented in subsequent chapters. Ch. 10 (223\u201341) summarizes the kinds of indirect (structural\u2014by far the most prevalent) and direct (formal) diffusion in the Vaup\u00e9s, while Ch. 11 (243\u201364) relates the changes in Tariana to the language\u2019s obsolescence.<\/p>\n

The concluding chapter (265\u201379) provides a comparison of the kinds of changes observed in the four sociolinguistically defined kinds of language contact examined, with generalizations and hypotheses that should serve well further exploration of what kinds of language features are most readily diffused in what kinds of contact situations.<\/p>\n

Five appendices (281\u2013325) on language classification, main features of languages of the area, and language proficiency data in one Tariana village, followed by a list of some 400 references and three indexes, conclude the book. There are also sixteen photographs and one map. Overall, style and organization are lucid, although typos, occasional misglossing, and other editorial infelicities are surprisingly many, but seldom a serious impediment to clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Language contact in Amazonia. By Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald.\u00a0 Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pp. xxv, 363. ISBN 019925785X. $48.99. Reviewed by George L. Huttar, SIL This book aims \u2018to provide a systematic analysis of contact-induced language change between two reasonably well-documented, genetically unrelated and typologically different language families north of the Amazon\u2014North Arawak and Tucanoan\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}