Universiteit Leiden

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Willem Adelaar

Professor emeritus of Native American Languages

Name
Prof.dr. W.F.H. Adelaar
Telephone
+31 71 527 2511
E-mail
w.f.h.adelaar@hum.leidenuniv.nl

Research

  • Descriptive field research on Andean languages of Peru (Quechua dialects: Huanca, Tarma, Pacaraos; Aymara, Jaqaru); descriptive research with speakers of Amerindian languages residing in the Netherlands (Mapuche, Guaraní); descriptive research based on written sources (Mayan languages).
  • Overview of the structure and history of Andean languages (for Cambridge U.P. volume published in 2004 [2007]). Reconstruction of extinct languages of the Andes and interpretation of colonial grammars (missionary linguistics).
  • Language endangerment in South America and Mesoamerica (survey work on language survival in the Andes, documentation and database projects, rescue of archives, participation in conferences and meetings on language endangerment strategies, etc.)
  • Historical-comparative research: internal reconstruction of the Quechua language family; Quechua-Aymaran historical relations; historical relation between Harakmbut (Peru) and the Katukina family (Brazil); between Chiquitano (Bolivia) and the Macro-Jê stock (Brazil); the genealogical history and origin of the Amerindian languages in general.
  • Language contact between Quechua and Amuesha; between Quechua and Aymaran.
  • Translation and interpretation of Quechua, Guaraní and Mayan texts.
  • Digitization of language archives related to the Amazonian region.

  • Unraveling the genetic and contact relations between the indigenous languages of Mesoamerica and he Middle Andes region (ERC financed project (Advanced Grant) from June 2012 until May 2017

Fields of interest

Amerindian languages: languages of the Andes and the Amazonian region, languages of Mesoamerica.. Descriptive linguistics. Historical-comparative linguistics and reconstruction. Language typology. Language contact and areal linguistics. Oral literature and cultural history of Native American peoples. The interface of linguistic studies with archaeological and historical research.

Curriculum vitae

Willem Adelaar (1948), married (two children 1982, 1987).  

M.A. (“doctoraal”) in Chinese language and literature, with a minor in general linguistics (Quechua) in 1969. Ph. D. University of Amsterdam in 1977 (title of dissertation: “Tarma Quechua: Grammar, Texts, Dictionary”). Honorary doctor of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima (2007). Honorary professor in Humanities, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima (since 2011). 

Linguistic field research in Central Peru with a ZWO stipend in 1970-71. Lecturer in the departments of General Linguistics (1971-77) and Comparative Linguistics (1977-78), Leiden University. Senior lecturer in Amerindian linguistics in the department of Comparative Linguistics, Leiden University (1978-93). Full professor in Native American Languages and Cultures, Leiden University (since 1994). Member of the directory board and vice-dean of the Faculty of Arts, Leiden University (1996-98). Resident-fellow of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study of the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) at Wassenaar (1999-2000). Visiting researcher Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Victoria (Australia) (2002, 2008). 

Member of the Research Institute for Descriptive and Comparative Linguistics (IBVTW) of the Faculty of Arts, Leiden University (1989-1993). Member of the Research School CNWS for Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Leiden University (1993-2004). Member of the directory board of CNWS (2000-2004). Member of the directory board of the Leiden University Centre of Linguistics (2005-2008). 

Member of the directory board of the Foundation of Linguistics (Stichting Taalwetenschap) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (1985-1990). Member of the advisory committee for language sciences of the humanities area board (Gebiedsbestuur Geesteswetenschappen) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (1998-2000). 

Associate Editor of the International Journal of American Linguistics (IJAL), Chicago (since 2003). Member of the selection panel of the Documentaton of  Endangered Languages program of Volkswagen Foundation (DoBeS), Hannover (since 2007). 

Regional editor for South America of the UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2009). Principal Investigator of the project The Linguistic Past of Mesoamerica and the Andes, financed by the European Research Council  (Advanced Grant), June 2012 – May 2017.

Teaching activities

BA and Minor Languages and Cultures of Indian America: Yucatec Maya grammar and texts, introduction to Andean cultural history, introduction to Mesoamerican cultural history, introduction to Amazonian culture and languages, extinct languages of the Andean region (Mochica, Puquina), Quechua.  

MPhil Latin American and Amerindian Studies (Amerindian track), MPhil Archaeology (Indian American track) and MA Languages and Cultures of Indian America: Linguistic structures and diversity in the Andes, topics in Andean cultural history,  contemporary Indian American societies. 

MPhil Linguistics (Amerindian track): Amerindian historical-comparative linguistics. 

Linguistics MA programme of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima (2007-2009): topics in Andean linguistics.

Publications

(1977)  Tarma Quechua, Grammar, Texts, Dictionary. Lisse: The Peter de Ridder Press. 
(1979) De dialectologie van het Quechua. Forum der Letteren, 20, pp. 477‑496. 
(1982) Incidental changes in the suffix part of Quechua verbs.  Lingua, 56, pp. 59‑73. 
(1982) Características del quechua de Pacaraos. In: R. Cerrón-Palomino (ed.),  Aula Quechua, pp. 19‑33. Lima: Signo Universitario. 
(1982)  Léxico del quechua de Pacaraos. Lima: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos: Centro de Investigación de Linguística Aplicada: Documento de Trabajo No. 45. 
(1984) Grammatical vowel length and the classification of Quechua dialects.  International Journal of American Linguistics, 50, pp. 25‑47. 
(1986) Transitivity as a condition for morphology.  Linguistics, 24, pp. 493‑502. 
(1986) with L. Silva López, Grammaticaal overzicht van het Guaraní.  Wampum, 7, pp. 11‑59. Leiden. 
(1986) La relación quechua‑aru: perspectivas para la separación del léxico.  Revista Andina, 4:2, pp. 379‑426. Cusco: Centro "Bartolomé de Las Casas". 
(1986) Over nasaliteit in het Guaraní.  Glot, 9:3, pp. 155‑175. 
(1987)  Morfología del quechua de Pacaraos. Lima: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. 
(1987) Aymarismos en el quechua de Puno.  Indiana, 11, pp. 223‑231. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag. 
(1988) Search for the Culli Language. In: M. Jansen, P. van der Loo & R. Manning (eds.), Continuity and Identity in Native America: Essays in Honor of Benedikt Hartmann, pp. 111‑31. Leiden: Brill. 
(1988)  Het boek van Huarochirí. Riten en mythen van het oude Peru. Amsterdam, Meulenhoff. 
(1988) Categorías de aspecto en el quechua del Perú central.  Amerindia, 13, pp. 15‑42. Paris: Association d'ethnolinguistique amérindienne. 
(1991) The role of quotations in Andean discourse. In: M.H. Preuss (ed.),  Past, Present, and Future: Selected Papers on Latin American Indian Literatures (Including the VIII International Symposium), pp. 161-66, Culver City/CA.. 
(1991) Presente y futuro de la lingüística andina.  Revista Andina, 9:1, pp. 49-63. Cusco: Centro "Bartolomé de Las Casas". 
(1991) The Endangered Languages Problem: South America. In: R.H. Robins & E.M. Uhlenbeck (eds.), Endangered Languages, pp. 45-91. Oxford, New York: Berg. 
(1992) Quechuan Languages. In: W. Bright, ed.,  OxfordInternational Encyclopedia of Linguistics, vol. 3, pp. 303-10. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
(1993) La categoría del plural inclusivo en las lenguas americanas: interpretación y realidad. In: M.P.A.M. Kerkhof, H. de Schepper, O. Zwartjes (eds.)  España:¿ruptura 1492?, pp. 207‑16, Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi. 
(1994) Hasta dónde llega la inflexión? Criterios para una clasificación interna de los sufijos verbales en quechua de Tarma/norte de Junín. In: J. Calvo Pérez (ed.),  Estudios de Lengua y Cultura Amerindias I, pp. 65-83. Valencia: Universidad de Valencia. 
(1994) La expresión de conceptos abstractos y generales en quechua: visión diacrónica. In: M. Beyersdorff, S. Dedenbach-Salazar Sáenz (eds.),  Tradiciones orales andinas: Discurso y Literatura, pp. 1-20. Bonn: Holos. 
(1994) La procedencia dialectal del manuscrito de Huarochirí en base a sus características lingüísticas.  Revista Andina, 12:1, pp. 137-154. Cusco: Centro "Bartolomé de Las Casas".
(1994) A Grammatical Category for Manifestations of the Supernatural in Early Colonial Quechua. In: P. Cole, G. Hermon, M.D. Martin (eds.),  Language in the Andes, pp. 116-125. Newark (Delaware): University of Delaware. 
(1994) The Nasal/Oral Distinction in Paraguayan Guaraní Suffixes.  Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Etnolingüísticos, 8, pp. 125-133. Lima: Ignacio Prado Pastor. 
(1995)  Spoorzoeken op de talenkaart van Indiaans Amerika. Oratie Universiteit Leiden. 
(1995) Les catégories verbales "conjugaison" et "genre" dans les grammaires de la langue chibcha.  Amerindia, 19-20, pp. 173-182. Paris: Association d’ethnolinguistique amérindienne. 
(1995) Raíces lingüísticas del quichua de Santiago del Estero. In: A. Fernández Garay & J.P. Viegas Barros (eds.),  Actas de las Segundas Jornadas de Lingüística Aborigen, pp. 25-50. Buenos Aires: Universidad de Buenos Aires. 
(1996) La nasal velar en el aymara y en el jaqaru.  Opción: Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. Año 12, abril 1996, No. 19, pp. 5-19. Maracaibo: Universidad del Zulia. 
(1997) O sufixo onomático e a preservação das consoantes do fim de raiz em Guarani paraguaio.  ABRALIN: Boletim da Associação Brasileira de Lingüística, 20, pp. 11-19. Maceió: Universidade Federal de Alagoas. 
(1997) Spatial reference and speaker orientation in early colonial Quechua. In: R. Howard-Malverde (ed.),  Creating Context in Andean Cultures, pp. 135-148. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 
(1997) Las transiciones en la tradición gramatical hispanoamericana: historia de un modelo descriptivo. In: K. Zimmermann (ed.),  La descripción de las lenguas amerindias en la época colonial, pp. 259-270. Frankfurt am Main: Vervuert & Madrid: Ibero-Americana. 
(1997) Los marcadores de validación y evidencialidad en Quechua:¿automatismo o elemento expresivo?  Amerindia, 22, vol. 1, pp. 3-13. Paris: Association d’ethnolinguistique amérindienne. 
(1998) The Endangered Situation of Native Languages in South America. In: K. Matsumara (ed.),  Studies in Endangered Languages. Papers from the International Symposium on Endangered Languages (Tokyo, November 18-20, 1995), pp. 1-15. Tokyo: Hituzi Syobo. 
(1998) The name of the sweet potato: A case of pre-conquest contact between South America and the Pacific. In: M. Janse (ed.),  Productivity and Creativity: Studies in General and Descriptive Linguistics in Honour of E.M. Uhlenbeck, pp. 403-411. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1998. 
(1998) En pos de los orígenes lingüísticos de la sociedad peruana. In:  Actas del I Encuentro Internacional de Peruanistas: Estado de los estudios histórico-sociales sobre el Perú a fines del siglo XX, vol. 2, pp. 159-167. Lima: Universidad de Lima, UNESCO & Fondo de Cultura Económica. 
(1998) with J. Trigoso Pérez. Un documento colonial quechua de Cajamarca. In: S. Dedenbach-Salazar Sáenz, C. Arellano Hoffman, E. König, H. Prümers, eds.,  50 Years Americanist Studies at the University of Bonn.New contributions to the archaeology, ethnohistory, ethnolinguistics and ethnography of the Americas, vol. 2, pp. 641-651. Bonn/Markt Schwaben: Anton Sauerwein. (1999) Unprotected Languages: The Silent Death of the Languages of Northern Peru. In: A. Herzfeld & Y. Lastra (eds.),  Las causas sociales de la desaparición y del mantenimiento de las lenguas en las naciones de América, pp. 205-222. Hermosillo: Unison. 
(2000) La diversidad lingüística y la extinción de las lenguas. In: F. Queixalós & O. Renault-Lescure (eds.),  As línguas amazônicas hoje, pp. 29-36. São Paulo: Institut de recherche pour le développement, Instituto Socioambiental & Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. 
(2000) Propuesta de un nuevo vínculo genético entre dos grupos lingüísticos indígenas de la Amazonía occidental: Harakmbut y Katukina. In: L. Miranda Esquerre (ed.),  Actas del I Congreso de Lenguas Indígenas de Sudamérica, vol. 2, pp. 219-236. Lima: Universidad Ricardo Palma. 
(2001) Descriptive linguistics and the standardization of newly described languages. In: O. Miyaoka & O. Sakiyama (eds.),  Lectures on Endangered Languages: 2 – From Kyoto Conference 2000, pp. 69-80. Kyoto: ELPR Publication Series C002. 
(2002) Classification des langues amérindiennes d’Amérique du Sud. Méso -Amérique, Caraïbes, Amazonie, volume 1.  Faits de Langues 20, pp. 55-57. Paris: Ophrys. 
(2004), with the collaboration of P.C. Muysken.  The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Revised edition (2007). 
(2004) Linguistic peculiarities of Quechua song texts. In: G. Delgado & J. M. Schechter (eds.),   Quechua Verbal Artistry: The Inscription of Andean Voices, pp. 61-75. Aachen: Shaker Verlag. 
(2004) Linguistic Diversity in the Andean Countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru) and Paraguay.  In: M.J. Valdés & Dj. Kadir (eds.),  Literary Cultures of Latin America: A comparative History, vol. 1, pp. 96-103. New York: Oxford University Press. 
(2004)  Quechua. In: G.E. Booij, C. Lehmann, J. Mugdan & S. Skopeteas (eds.), Morphology. An International Handbook on Inflection and Word-Formation. Handbooks of Linguistics and Communications Science 17, vol. 2, pp. 1453-64. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. 
(2005)  Verbos de baja especificación semántica y expresiones idiomáticas en la lengua muisca. In: B. de Jonge (ed.),  Actas del II Congreso de la Región Noroeste de Europa de la Asociación de Lingüística y Filología de América Latina (ALFAL). Estudios de Lingüística del Español, vol. 22. Online publication: . 
(2005)  El esmeraldeño – un idioma de la costa del Ecuador. In: S. Dedenbach-Salazar Sáenz (ed.),  Contribuciones a las lenguas y culturas de los Andes. Homenaje a Alfredo Torero, pp. 233-45. Aachen: Shaker Verlag. 
(2006)  The vicissitudes of directional affixes in Tarma (Northern Junín) Quechua. In: G.J. Rowicka & E.B. Carlin (eds.),  What’s in a verb? Studies in the verbal morphology of the languages of the Americas, pp. 121-41. Utrecht: LOT. 
(2006)  Postcolonial linguistics:  An Andean perspective. In: L.N.K. van Broekhoven (ed.), The Social and Linguistic Heritage of Native peoples in the Americas. The Struggle to Maintain Cultural Particularity, pp. 287-98. Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press. 
(2006)  The Quechua impact in Amuesha, an Arawak language of the Peruvian Amazon. In: A.Y. Aikhenvald & R.M.W. Dixon (eds.),  Grammars in Contact. A Cross-Linguistic Typology, pp. 290-312. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 
(2007) Threatened languages in Hispanic South America. In: M. Brenzinger (ed.), Language Diversity Endangered, pp. 9-28. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 
(2007) The importance of toponymy, family names and historical documentation for the study of disappearing and recently extinct languages in the Andean region. In: L. Wetzels (ed.),  Language Endangerment and Endangered Languages. Linguistic and anthropological studies with special emphasis on the languages and cultures of the Andean-Amazonian border area, pp. 325-331. Leiden: CNWS. 
(2007) Ensayo de clasificación del katawixí dentro del conjunto harakmbut-katukina. In: A. Romero Figueroa, A. Fernández Garay and A. Corbera Mori (eds.),  Lenguas indígenas de América del Sur: Estudios descriptivo-tipológicos y sus contribuciones para la lingüística teórica, pp. 159-169. Caracas: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. 
(2008) Towards a typological profile of the Andean languages. In: A. LUBOTSKY, J. SCHAEKEN and J. WIEDENHOF, eds. Evidence and Counter-Evidence. Essays in Honour of Frederik Kortlandt. Volume 2: General Linguistics, pp. 23-33. Amsterdam/ New York: Rodopi. 
(2008) Semejanzas léxicas y fonológicas entre el wichí y el qawasqar. In: C. MESSINEO, M. MALVESTITTI and R.BEIN, eds. Estudios en Lingüística y Antropología, Homenaje a Ana Gerzenstein, pp. 19-25. Buenos Aires: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Professor emeritus of Native American Languages

  • Faculty of Humanities
  • Leiden Univ Centre for Linguistics
  • LUCL diversen

Work address

Reuvens
Reuvensplaats 3-4
2311 BE Leiden
Room number 0.34

Contact

Activities

  • The University of Chicago Press Advisory board van het tijdschrift International Journal of American Linguistics.
  • Koninklijke Brill N.V. Advisory Board of the Linguistic Bibliography
  • Volkswagen-Stiftung, Hannover Lid evaluatie en selectiepanel van het programma DoBeS
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