General reading on North American Indian languages.
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Thibaud Salle asked (May 15) if there is any "good general history of
American languages." Replies mentioned Lyle Campbell & Marianne Mithun,
*The Languages of Native America* (U of Texas Press, 1979), and Leanne
Hinton, *Flutes of Fire* (Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA, 1994). These are
both good books, with two very different audiences in mind. Campbell &
Mithun is a collection of studies of the historical relationships among
various North (and Central) American languages, and is intended for
linguistis specializing in these questions. Hinton's is a popular book,
based on essays she has written for the magazine *News from Native Cali-
fornia*. Neither book is a good, general survey of American Indian
linguistic work written for the informed non-specialist.
Such a book is in the works. Marianne Mithun is currently writing a book
for the Cambridge University Press series of "Cambridge Language Surveys",
which so far includes such useful introductory works as R. M. W. Dixon, *The
Languages of Australia* and Jorge Suarez, *The Mesoamerican Indian Languages*.
The books in this series are issued in relatively inexpensive paperback
format, and are both authoritative and accessible. I can't speak for
Marianne, but my impression is that her book is well advanced and will appear
in a year or so.
Mention has been made of a Smithsonian volume. What is being referred to
here is Volume 17 ("Languages") of the *Handbook of North American Indians*.
The volume editor is Ives Goddard. I am a contributor to this volume (a
grammatical sketch of the Hupa language), and I can attest to its glacially
slow movement towards publication. I submitted my manuscript in 1976, and
it grew so stale that I had to prepare a radically revised update last
year. I have no idea when publication is planned, but we contributors
have been told that editorial work is now under way. When it appears
(before 2000 I hope!) it will definitely be the standard reference work
for American Indian linguistics. However, like all reference works, and
particularly the *Handbook*, it will hardly be something one would
recommend to someone looking for a good general work.
The Routledge Atlas
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As Gary noted, the *Atlas of the World's Languages* that was published with
great fanfare by Routledge (London) last fall has a North America section
that is an utter disgrace. As Secretary of SSILA (the international organi-
zation of American Indianist linguists) I put out the word that the section
was ridden with errors, and generally raised hell. We were particularly
upset because SSILA had been asked to provide a lot of information to the
editors, including draft maps, which seem to have been either misinterpreted
or ignored.
I am glad to report that our complaining had an effect, and SSILA is now
working with Routledge to prepare a replacement for the bungled section.
This replacement will be distributed free to all purchasers of the original
edition, and will be included in a second edition that Routledge hopes to
have on the market as soon as possible. (The other sections of the Atlas
seem to be pretty good, and it is overall a fine reference work that every
major library should purchase.) We are also trying to persuade Routledge
to issue the (revised) North America section as a cheap paperback. If
they do, it would go a long way toward answering the need for a handy and
accessible introduction to North American language diversity.
An SSILA committee has been formed to undertake the revisions (essentially
a complete rewriting of the whole section and a redrafting of all the maps),
and as soon as a contract is signed SSILA and Routledge will make a joint
announcement of the project.
About SSILA
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Mark Fettes mentioned the newsletter I edit. If anyone would like
further information about SSILA, the newsletter, or the monthly "SSILA
Bulletin" I put on the Internet, just send me your e-mail address and I'll
reply with an informational message.
All the best,
Victor Golla
Secretary, SSILA
Native American Studies
Humboldt State University
Arcata, California 95521
gollav @ axe.humboldt.edu
_or_
golla @ nic.csu.net