Vajda Edward, Fortescue Michael. Mid-Holocene Language Connections Between Asia and North America

Brill, 2022. — 558 p. — (Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, vol. 17).This volume presents the up-to-date results of investigations into the Asian origins of the only two language families of North America that are widely acknowledged as having likely genetic links in northern Asia. It brings together all that has been proposed to date under the respective rubrics of the Uralo-Siberian (Eskimo-Yukaghir-Uralic) hypothesis and the Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis. The evolution of the two parallel research strategies for fleshing out these linguistic links between North America and Asia are compared and contrasted. Although focusing on stringently controlled linguistic reconstructions, the volume draws upon archaeological and human genetic data where relevant.Michael Fortescue, Ph.D. (1978), Edinburgh University, is professor emeritus in Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen. He has published widely in the field of Arctic languages, including West Greenlandic (Croom Helm, 1984). He co-authored The Comparative Eskimo Dictionary (Alaska Native Language Center, 1994, 2010).Edward Vajda, Ph.D. (1987), University of Washington, is professor of Russian, Eurasian Studies, and Linguistics at Western Washington University. His research focus is the indigenous languages of northern Asia, particularly Ket and other Yeniseian languages. His books include Yeniseian Peoples and Languages (Curzon Press, 2001) and Ket (Lincom, 2004).