Indigenous Languages of South America
Anthropology · 3 hrs Lecture
Offered: Fall Only, Even Year
Hard to catch. Runs in even-numbered years only, next in 2026. Miss it and the following chance is 2028.
No prerequisites listed, you can take this course without prior coursework.
Where ANTH-4411 counts
Counts toward 4 more as one option among several, not as a course you must take:
Read from the departments' own calendar pages, where 50 of 208 programs are only partly machine-readable, so treat these as a minimum rather than the full list. Confirm with an academic advisor.
Description
Presenting an integrated overview of the indigenous languages of South America, this course looks at main language families spoken there, their spatial distribution, history and classification, as well as their cultural background. With 53 language families and 55 isolates, South America is not only the most diverse region in linguistic terms, but also a storehouse of unusual structural features important for understanding the full range of possible variants of human language. The course also explores typological characteristics of South American languages, potential linguistic areas, proposals of more distant relationships, and the current situation of endangered languages in this region. Additional in-depth work is required to receive credit at the 4000-level.
Restrictions
Honours Form Required. Students may not hold credit for this course and ANTH-3411 | LING-3104 | LING-4104 | IS-3104.
Cross-listed
From the 2026-27 undergraduate calendar. Always verify details on WebAdvisor or with an academic advisor before registering.