LING 035. Indigenous Languages of the Americas

At least 300 languages were spoken in North America before the first contact occurred with Europeans. Most of the surviving languages are on the verge of extinction. Students will learn about language patterns and characteristics of language families, including grammatical classification systems, animacy effects on sentence structure, verbs that incorporate other words, and evidentials. Topics include how languages in contact affect each other, issues of sociolinguistic identity, language endangerment and revitalization efforts, and matters of secrecy and cultural theft.
Social Sciences.
1 credit.
Eligible for ESCH.
Fall 2023. Fernald.
Catalog chapter: Linguistics
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/linguistics

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