THE CONTRIBUTION OF A CENTURY OF AMERICANIST STUDIES TO HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

Since the launch of IJAL 100 years ago, historical linguistics has been a central concern of researchers working on the languages of the Americas, and diachronic studies of New World language families have contributed substantially both to our knowledge of the development and dispersal of languages over time and to the refinement of the methods we use to study language history. This article surveys some of the most important developments over the past century, concentrating largely on work that has appeared in the Journal.