Two studies that appear in the August/October 2005 issue of Current Anthropology...(fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Two studies that appear in the August/October 2005 issue of Current
Anthropology challenge established linguistic theories regarding the
language families of Amazonia.

http://i-newswire.com/pr40058.html

(I-Newswire) - New research by Dan Everett ( University of Manchester )
into the language of the Pirahã people of Amazonas, Brazil disputes two
prominent linguistic ideas regarding grammar and translation. The Pirahã
are intelligent, highly skilled hunters and fishers who speak a language
remarkable for the complexity of its verb and sound systems. Yet, the
Pirahã language and culture has several features that not known to
exist in any other in the world and lacks features that have been
assumed to be found in all human groups. The language does not have
color words or grammatical devices for putting phrases inside other
phrases. They do not have fiction or creation myths, and they have a
lack of numbers and counting. Despite 200 years of contact, they have
steadfastly refused to learn Portuguese or any other outside language.
The unifying feature behind all of these characteristics is a cultural
restriction against talking about things that extend beyond personal
experience. This restriction counters claims of linguists, such as Noam
Chomsky, that grammar is genetically driven system with universal
features. Despite the absence of these allegedly universal features,
the Pirahã communicate effectively with one another and coordinate
simple tasks. Moreover, Pirahã suggests that it is not always possible
to translate from one language to another.

In addition, Alf Hornborg's ( Lund University ) research into the Arawak
language family counters the common interpretation that the geographical
distribution of languages in Amazonia reflects the past migrations of
the inhabitants. At the time of Christopher Columbus, the Arawak
language family ranged from Cuba to Bolivia. Yet, geneticists have been
unable to find significant correlations between genes and languages in
the Amazonia. Moreover, Arawakan languages spoken in different areas
show more similarities to their non-Arawakan neighbors than to each
other, suggesting that they may derive from an early trade language. As
well, Arawak languages are distributed along major rivers and coastlines
that served as trade routes, and Arawak societies were dedicated to
trade and intermarriage with other groups. But, the dispersed network
of Arawak-speaking societies may have caused ethnic wedges between
other, more consolidated language families with which they would have
engaged in trade and warfare. Finally, there is increased evidence that
language shifts were common occurrences among the peoples of Amazonia
and were used as a way to signal a change in identity, particularly
when entering into alliances, rather than migratory movement.


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