Indian Languages of Mexico and Central America and Their Geographical Distribution
Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office, 1911. First Edition, Bulletin 44, 1911.
MAPPING THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the linguistic geography of Mexico and Central America presented a complex picture of Indigenous peoples, languages, and territories. Cyrus Thomas, assisted by John R. Swanton, brought together the available research to identify these languages, examine their relationships, and trace their geographical distribution.
Moving from northern Mexico through the Maya-speaking regions and into Central America, the study draws upon historical accounts, earlier linguistic scholarship, and comparisons of vocabulary and grammatical forms. Its discussions reveal both the extent of contemporary knowledge and the uncertainties scholars faced when attempting to classify the region's many languages.
Accompanying the study is a large folding color map, prepared in 1909, showing the geographical distribution of Indigenous language families across Mexico and Central America. Together, the text and map preserve an important record of early twentieth-century American ethnological and linguistic research.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: A SMITHSONIAN ETHNOLOGICAL STUDY WITH A LARGE COLOR MAP.
+++ Olive green cloth hardcover with gilt spine titles. Published as Bulletin 44 of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology.
+++ Octavo, approximately 9 inches tall. vii, 108 pages, including bibliography (pp. 97–100) and an index of linguistic families, tribes, and settlements.
+++ Complete with the large folding color 'Linguistic Map of Mexico and Central America,' prepared by Cyrus Thomas with assistance from J. R. Swanton and dated 1909. The map employs approximately thirty colors and patterns to distinguish language families and their geographical distribution.
CONDITION: A CLEAN COPY WITH THE ORIGINAL FOLDING MAP.
+++ Binding intact, with light exterior wear visible in the photographs. Interior pages generally clean and bright, with occasional minor spotting.
+++ The folding map retains its printed colors and shows the expected creases along its original folds.
HISTORICAL & SUBJECT SIGNIFICANCE: AN EARLY ATTEMPT TO MAP THE REGION'S LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY.
The study grew out of a project initiated around 1895 under John Wesley Powell, director of the Bureau of American Ethnology, to extend the mapping of Indigenous North American language families south of the United States border.
Thomas and Swanton assembled historical records, linguistic comparisons, and geographical information to produce a regional survey. The accompanying map, completed in 1909, brought this research together in a single visual representation.
The work is particularly interesting today as a record of how Indigenous languages were classified and understood in the early twentieth century. Some of its classifications and territorial assignments have since been revised, making it valuable for the history of linguistics as well as the history of cartography.
CYRUS THOMAS AND JOHN R. SWANTON.
Cyrus Thomas was a prominent researcher with the Bureau of American Ethnology, known for his investigations of North American archaeology and Indigenous cultures. John R. Swanton subsequently became one of the leading American ethnologists and linguists of his generation, publishing extensively on Indigenous languages and societies. Their collaboration places this publication within the Smithsonian's formative period of systematic ethnological research.
GENRES: Ethnology, Historical Linguistics, Indigenous Studies, Cartography, Anthropological Literature, Government Publications, American Scientific Publications, Regional Geography
SUBJECTS: Cyrus Thomas, John R. Swanton, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Indigenous Languages, Mexico, Central America, Linguistic Geography, Linguistic Maps, Maya Languages, Nahuatl, Mixtec, Zapotec, Indigenous Peoples, Historical Cartography, American Ethnology
Item #22581
Price: $75.00
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