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The Amazonian Language Samples of Johann Natterer (1787-1843)
Transcription, Translation, and Annotations of the Basel Manuscript
Series:
The Austrian naturalist and explorer Johann Natterer (1787â1843) earned his renown as one of the worldâs greatest collectors of indigenous artifacts and natural treasuresâmainly expertly prepared specimensâwhich he dispatched to the Imperial Court in Vienna. Yet, a parallel endeavour, scarcely known beyond specialist circles, was no less ambitious. Over the course of eighteen years of travel through the Brazilian interior and neighbouring regions, Natterer undertook a meticulous documentation of the languages spoken by the indigenous nations he encountered. The results of this extraordinary enterprise are presented here for the first time.
In this volume you will find transcriptions with English translations of more than seventy annotated vocabularies, recorded by Natterer among a broad range of Amazonian peoples and preserved in the University Library of Basel (Switzerland). Remarkable for their authenticity and faithful representation, these materials provide an exceptional view of the linguistic and cultural diversity that existed in Amazonia when most of its languages were still unknown to the wider world.
In this volume you will find transcriptions with English translations of more than seventy annotated vocabularies, recorded by Natterer among a broad range of Amazonian peoples and preserved in the University Library of Basel (Switzerland). Remarkable for their authenticity and faithful representation, these materials provide an exceptional view of the linguistic and cultural diversity that existed in Amazonia when most of its languages were still unknown to the wider world.
Willem F.H. Adelaar, Ph.D. (1977), University of Amsterdam, Emeritus Professor of Indigenous American Languages and Cultures at Leiden University. His research focuses on the languages of the Andes and the Amazon, with particular expertise in Quechuan and other Andean language families. He is the author of numerous monographs and scholarly articles, including Tarma Quechua (The Peter de Ridder Press, 1977) and The Languages of the Andes (with P. C. Muysken, Cambridge University Press, 2004). In addition to his Andean work, he has published extensively on Amazonian languages and broader issues in South American linguistics.
Hélène B. Brijnen, Ph.D. (2001), University of Amsterdam, is a retired lecturer in Slavic languages at the University of Groningen. Her research focuses on West Slavic linguistics, with particular expertise in Sorbian. She is the author of the monograph Die Sprache des Hanso Nepila (Domowina-Verlag, 2004) and has published a range of scholarly articles on West Slavic languages. In addition, her work and publications extend beyond Europe to include research on Amazonian languages and broader issues in language documentation and description.
Hélène B. Brijnen, Ph.D. (2001), University of Amsterdam, is a retired lecturer in Slavic languages at the University of Groningen. Her research focuses on West Slavic linguistics, with particular expertise in Sorbian. She is the author of the monograph Die Sprache des Hanso Nepila (Domowina-Verlag, 2004) and has published a range of scholarly articles on West Slavic languages. In addition, her work and publications extend beyond Europe to include research on Amazonian languages and broader issues in language documentation and description.
This book is intended for linguists, ethnographers, and cultural anthropologists, and will be of particular interest to scholars working on the Amazonian region. It will also appeal to zoologists and botanists, as it contains extensive information on fauna and flora recorded by an early nineteenth-century naturalist familiar with Linnaean taxonomyn.