INTRODUCTION

According to Bright (1994), as many as 300 aboriginal languages may have been spoken in North America, although the number has been significantly reduced since the first contact with Europeans, and many are on the verge of extinction. Canada's fifty-three aboriginal languages are classified into eleven families and isolates (Foster, 1982). Despite the genetic and typological diversity of aboriginal languages that have existed since prehistoric times, their intricate grammars and enriched vocabularies have not been recognized and appreciated for what they are by the general public. Although the situation has been changing, one often encounters people who believe that there are only two aboriginal languages, ‘Eskimo’ and ‘Indian’ and that these languages are ‘primitive’ – without an elaborate grammar or vocabulary. Needless to say, that is far from true, and such a myth is largely attributable to the lack of accessible information and inadequate documentation, even in the professional literature. This chapter, therefore, addresses an audience which is little informed of the basic facts about aboriginal languages from a historical perspective. Specifically, this chapter deals with such questions as: (a) are the indigenous languages related to those of the Old World; (b) how are they classified genetically; (c) how are they distributed; (d) how viable are they in the multilingual Canadian society?

THE ORIGIN OF THE NEW WORLD LANGUAGES

Greenberg's (1987) Language in the Americas triggered vigorous debates, mostly rejecting his claims and criticizing his cavalier method and data handling.