Book: Native American languages -- comparison study

[McGinnis, Scott]

Title: The Languages of the "First Nations"
Subtitle: A Comparison of Native American Languages from an
	  Ethnolinguistic Perspective
Series Title: LINCOM Handbooks in Linguistics 01
			
Publication Year: 2003
Publisher: Lincom Europa
           http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/
			
Author: Stefan  Liedtke
				
Hardback: ISBN: 3929075253, Pages: 148, Price: USD 45.60 / EUR 44 /
	  GBP 27.60
Comment: 2nd edition/2nd printing
			
Abstract:
			
As yet there is no satisfactory solution for the attempt to study the
immense diversity of the languages of the world systematically and to
divide them into related groups. On the contrary, there is an
embittered, fruitless controversy between, on the one hand, scholars
who - unfortunately often with absolutely inadequate methodology -
gather the languages into ever increasing "super groups", and on the
other hand, scholars who are bogged down in the - justified -
criticism towards this approach and have developed an anxious negative
attitude especially towards genetic comparative linguistics (the
"splitters"). What is now lacking is 1) fresh stock-taking of the
meanwhile available descriptive facts, 2) a strict improvement of
comparative methods, and 3) an unbiased attitude.

The book aims in this direction. With the example of the languages of
the "First Nations", i.e., the Indian peoples of the American twin
continent, it attempts a critical stock-taking of the method of
language comparison (genetic, areal and typological).

The author lays great emphasis on the points of content between
ethnologists and linguists, in order to encourage a cooperation of
these disciplines. The book is thus suitable as introductory reading
for people interested in these two related disciplines. Comparable
works would be desirable for scholars who specialise in other areas
(Africanists etc.).

These topics have never before been treated in this summary form in
the English-speaking world.