Formal Approaches to Languages of South America

This book analyzes the linguistic diversity of South America based on approaches deeply rooted in the tradition of formal grammar. The chapters brought together in this contributed volume consider native languages all kinds of languages used in the region, including sign languages, indigenous languages and the romance languages (Portuguese and Spanish) originally introduced by European colonizers which underwent processes of transformation giving rise to new, local grammars.  

One fourth of the language families of the world are located in South America, but the majority of languages in the region are still understudied and out of the radar of theoretical linguistics mostly because their grammars are not well-known by international researchers. This book aims to fill this gap by bringing together studies rooted in the formal grammar approach first developed by Noam Chomsky, which sees language not only as mere corpora attested in oral and written production, but also as expressions of systems of thought and language production which are essential parts of human cognition.

The book is divided in three parts – sign languages, romance languages and indigenous languages –, and brings together studies of the following South American languages:

• Brazilian Sign Language (Libras - Língua Brasileira de Sinais)
• Argentinian Sign Language (LSA - Lengua de Señas Argentina)
• Peruvian Sign Language (LSP- Lengua de Señas Peruana)
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Chilean and Argentinian Spanish
• Quechua
• Paraguayan Guarani
• A’ingae
• Macro-Jê languages

Formal Approaches to the Languages of South America will be an invaluable resource both for theoretical linguists and cognitive scientists by providing access to top quality research on understudied languages and enabling these languages to be incorporated into comparative studies that can contribute to advance the knowledge of general principles governing all human languages.

Cilene Rodrigues is Adjunct Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and Research fellow of Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa  (CNPq/Brazil). Her PhD thesis (University of Maryland, 2004) focused on licensing of null subjects in Partial Pro-drop languages.  She is currently directing research on: (a) the grammar of Brazilian Languages, especially Colloquial Brazilian Portuguese, Tupi-Guarani languages and Brazilian Sign Language (Libras); (b) evolution of language, with interdisciplinary investigations on language and psychosis, particularly schizophrenia, grammar and interjections, verbal versus vocal behavior, with fieldwork on the vocal repertoire of Capuchin monkeys.  

Andrés Saab studied Literature and Linguistics at the University of Buenos Aires and at the National University of Comahue (Argentina). In 2009, he defended his PhD dissertation on the theory of ellipsis. Currently, he is Independent Researcher at the Argentine National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), having the Argentinian Society for Philosophical Analysis (IIF-SADAF-CONICET) as official work-place, and Associate Professor at the University of Buenos Aires. His main research topics are ellipsis, copy theory of movement, null subjects and, more broadly, the syntax– interface connection. His research has been published by international journals and books (among others, Linguistic Inquiry, The Oxford Handbook of Ellipsis, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, Lingua, Probus, Studia Linguistica). He is also co-author of Dimensiones del Significado. Una introducción a la semántica formal (with Fernando Carranza, SADAF, Buenos Aires, 2021), co-editor of Slurs and Expressivity. Semantics and Beyond (with Eleonora Orlando, Lexington, USA, 2021), and co-editor of the volume Romance Language and Linguistic Theory 2010 (with Irene Franco and Sara Lusini, John Benjamins, Amsterdam. 2012).