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This volume, the fifth in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, presents a summary of work accomplished since the Spanish conquest in the contemporary description and historical reconstruction of the indigenous languages and language families of Mexico and Central America.

The essays include the following: “Inventory of Descriptive Materials” by William Bright; “Inventory of Classificatory Materials” by Maria Teresa Fernández de Miranda, “Lexicostatistic Classification” by Morris Swadesh, “Systemic Comparison and Reconstruction” by Robert Longacre, and “Environmental Correlational Studies” by Sarah C. Gudschinsky.

Sketches of Classical Nahuatl by Stanley Newman, Classical Yucatec Maya by Norman A. McQuown, and Classical Quiché by Munro S. Edmonson provide working tools for tackling the voluminous early postconquest texts in these languages of late preconquest empires (Aztec, Maya, Quiché). Further sketches of Sierra Popoluca by Benjamin F. Elson, of Isthmus Zapotec by Velma B. Pickett, of Huautla de Jiménez Mazatec by Eunice V. Pike, of Jiliapan Pame by Leonardo Manrique C., and of Huamelultec Chontal by Viola Waterhouse—together with those of Nahuatl, Maya, and Quiché—provide not only descriptive outlines of as many different linguistic structures but also linguistic representatives of seven structurally different families of Middle American languages. Miguel Léon-Portilla presents an outline of the relations between language and the culture of which it is a part and provides examples of some of these relations as revealed by contemporary research in indigenous Middle America.

The volume editor, Norman A. McQuown (1914–2005), was Professor of Anthropology at The University of Chicago. He formerly taught at Hunter College and served with the Mexican Department of Indian Affairs. He carried out fieldwork with Totonac, Huastec, Tzeltal-Tzotzil, Mame, and other tribes.

The Handbook of Middle American Indians was assembled and edited at the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University with the assistance of grants from the National Science Foundation and under the sponsorship of the National Research Council Committee on Latin American Anthropology.

Mapping the Diverse Voices of America's Linguistic Heartland.

Heartland English is the first book-length scholarly treatment of English spoken in the Midwest, or the northern interior of the continental United States. For generations, the American Midwest has been portrayed as the home of a single, uniform variety of "standard" American English. Heartland English: Variation and Transition in the American Midwest challenges that assumption through the first book-length scholarly examination of the rich linguistic diversity that exists across the region. Bringing together the work of leading dialectologists and language scholars, editor Timothy C. Frazer presents a groundbreaking exploration of how history, migration, settlement patterns, geography, culture, and social change have shaped the spoken language of the Midwest.    

Covering communities across the northern interior of the United States, the volume reveals a complex linguistic landscape marked by regional dialect boundaries, evolving pronunciations, distinctive vocabulary, and shifting patterns of speech. Rather than viewing Midwestern English as a static or homogeneous dialect, the contributors demonstrate how linguistic variation reflects the movement of peoples, the influence of neighboring regions, and the ongoing transformation of American society.   

Drawing on research in dialect geography, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and language variation studies, Heartland English offers valuable insights into the ways language both shapes and reflects regional identity. The collection examines how speakers perceive dialect differences, how those differences develop over time, and why the Midwest remains one of the most important regions for understanding the evolution of American English. As a landmark contribution to the study of language in North America, the book continues to serve as an essential resource for scholars investigating the relationship between language, culture, and place.

A Publication in the Centennial Series of the American Dialect Society in celebration of the beginning of its second century of research into language variation in America.

A philologically robust approach to the history of ancient Hebrew

In this book the authors work toward constructing an approach to the history of ancient Hebrew that overcomes the chasm of academic specialization. The authors illustrate how cross-textual variable analysis and variation analysis advance research on Biblical Hebrew and correct theories based on extra-linguistic assumptions, intuitions, and ideologies by focusing on variation of forms/uses in the Masoretic text and variation between the Masoretic text and other textual traditions.

Features:

• A unique approach that examines the nature of the sources and the description of their language together
• Extensive bibliography for further research
• Tables of linguistic variables and parallels