Lyle Campbell

A thorough overview of genetic language classification. To me the most interesting parts were the history sections, which looked in part at how early classification methodologies were often suspect because they relied on non-linguistic factors such as racial stereotypes for classifying languages. The constant bashing of a particular linguist called Greenberg (who was apparently very lax in his application of the comparative method in order to force data to fit pre-conceived theories) was show more also mildly amusing. show less

This book assumes a bit of familiarity with linguistic terminology and its aim is clearly to give an introduction of this subfield for beginning linguistic scientists. I read it out of general interest in the methodolgy of historical linguistics and it met my expectations quite well. Some of the more detailed discussions were a bit over my head. But this is a good book and it's particularly nice that the author gives examples from a very wide variety of languages.

This is a textbook, and is not a good choice for the general reader. Perhaps as a complement to a well taught course it would be very helpful, but on its own it is dry, not well integrated, and not very enlightening. For a general reader wanting to learn more about historical linquistics, try Jean Aitchison's "Language Change: Progress or Decay"?

The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide is a thorough guide to the indigenous languages of this part of the world. With more than a third of the linguistic diversity of the world (in terms of language families and isolates), South American languages contribute new findings in most areas of linguistics. Though formerly one of the linguistically least known areas of the world, extensive descriptive and historical linguistic research in recent years has expanded show more knowledge greatly. These advances are represented … Show Morein this volume in indepth treatments by the foremost scholars in the field, with chapters on the history of investigation, language classification, language endangerment, language contact, typology, phonology and phonetics, and on major language families and regions of South America. Description from EBL Webstie show less