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Two major anthropological works study the roots, structure, and classification of Indian languages.

This comprehensive survey of indigenous languages of the New World introduces students and general readers to the mosaic of American Indian languages and cultures and offers an approach to grasping their subtleties. Authors Silver and Miller demonstrate the complexity and diversity of these languages while dispelling popular misconceptions. Their text reveals the linguistic richness of languages found throughout the Americas, emphasizing those located in the western United States and Mexico while drawing on a wide range of other examples from Canada to the Andes. It introduces readers to such varied aspects of communicating as directionals and counting systems, storytelling, expressive speech, Mexican Kickapoo whistle speech, and Plains sign language. The authors have included the basics of grammar and historical linguistics while emphasizing such issues as speech genres and other sociolinguistic issues and the relation between language and worldview. American Indian Languages: Cultural and Social Contexts is a comprehensive resource that will serve as a text in undergraduate and lower-level graduate courses on Native American languages and provide a useful reference for students of American Indian literature or general linguistics. It also introduces general readers interested in Native Americans to the amazing diversity and richness of indigenous American languages.

"Victor Golla has been the leading scholar of California Indian languages for most of his professional life, and this book shows why. His ability to synthesize centuries of fieldwork and writings while bringing forward new ideas and fresh ways of looking at California’s famous linguistic diversity will make this the primary text for anyone interested in California languages."--Leanne Hinton, Professor Emerita of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley and author of How to Keep Your Language Alive “This book is a wonderful contribution that only Golla could have written. It is a perfect confluence of author and subject matter.”--Ives Goddard, Senior Linguist, Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution "Golla is a gifted polymath and California Indian Languages is certainly his landmark achievement, required reading for any linguist, archaeologist, ethnographer, or historian interested in aboriginal California."--Robert L. Bettinger, Professor of Anthropology, University of California Davis and author of Hunter-Gatherer Foraging "The preeminent figure in his field, Victor Golla has written a masterpiece filled with treasures for every audience: Indian communities working toward cultural and linguistic revival; general readers interested in the many cultures of Native California; and scholars in the fields of language, archaeology, and prehistory. The information here is so detailed that it supersedes all previous reference works."--Andrew Garrett, Professor of Linguistics, University of California Berkeley and Director, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages “This is a truly magnificent work, at once authoritative, comprehensive, accessible to a wide readership, and fascinating. Masterfully integrating linguistic, archaeological, historical, and cultural information, the author describes not just the languages, but also the major figures in the story: speakers, explorers, missionaries, and scholars. It is beautifully written, a great pleasure to read, and difficult to put down."--Marianne Mithun, author of The Languages of Native North America

Explores the ways linguistic nationalism has enabled and deepened the reach of All-India nationalism. This title is also available as Open Access.

The charged emotional politics of language and identity in India