Raoul Zamponi works primarily on little-known, extinct indigenous languages of the Americas and is currently working on a project for the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena. He has previously held positions at the University of Siena and as Principal Investigator on a range of linguistic projects in Italy, Germany, and the USA. His work has been published in journals such as Anthropological Linguistics and International Journal of American Linguistics as well as in edited volumes from OUP, De Gruyter, and Edinburgh University Press.Bernard Comrie is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a world-renowned scholar in the areas of language universals and typology, historical linguistics, and linguistic fieldwork. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the author of several volumes, and the editor or co-editor of many more, including The World Atlas of Language Structures (OUP 2005). His most recent work has been in collaboration with population geneticists, archaeologists, and anthropologists in order to address questions relating to prehistoric human migrations. In 2017 he received the Neil & Saras Smith Medal for Linguistics, a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy.

• Preface List of tables, diagrams, figures, and maps Abbreviations and symbols 1: Introduction 2: Phonemes 3: Stems 4: Words 5: Phrases 6: Clauses 7: Complex sentences 8: Discourse phenomena 9: Texts 10: Conclusion and prospects Appendix A. Original spellings and translations of examples (1)-(1068) Appendix B. Comparative Akabea-Akarbale basic lexical items Online appendix: Portman's Akabea Dialogues References Author index Language index Subject index

Raoul Zamponi works primarily on little-known, extinct indigenous languages of the Americas and is currently working on a project for the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena. He has previously held positions at the University of Siena and as Principal Investigator on a range of linguistic projects in Italy, Germany, and the USA. His work has been published in journals such as Anthropological Linguistics and International Journal of American Linguistics as well as in edited volumes from OUP, De Gruyter, and Edinburgh University Press.Bernard Comrie is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a world-renowned scholar in the areas of language universals and typology, historical linguistics, and linguistic fieldwork. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the author of several volumes, and the editor or co-editor of many more, including The World Atlas of Language Structures (OUP 2005). His most recent work has been in collaboration with population geneticists, archaeologists, and anthropologists in order to address questions relating to prehistoric human migrations. In 2017 he received the Neil & Saras Smith Medal for Linguistics, a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy.

• Preface List of tables, diagrams, figures, and maps Abbreviations and symbols 1: Introduction 2: Phonemes 3: Stems 4: Words 5: Phrases 6: Clauses 7: Complex sentences 8: Discourse phenomena 9: Texts 10: Conclusion and prospects Appendix A. Original spellings and translations of examples (1)-(1068) Appendix B. Comparative Akabea-Akarbale basic lexical items Online appendix: Portman's Akabea Dialogues References Author index Language index Subject index

Raoul Zamponi works primarily on little-known, extinct indigenous languages of the Americas and is currently working on a project for the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena. He has previously held positions at the University of Siena and as Principal Investigator on a range of linguistic projects in Italy, Germany, and the USA. His work has been published in journals such as Anthropological Linguistics and International Journal of American Linguistics as well as in edited volumes from OUP, De Gruyter, and Edinburgh University Press.Bernard Comrie is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a world-renowned scholar in the areas of language universals and typology, historical linguistics, and linguistic fieldwork. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the author of several volumes, and the editor or co-editor of many more, including The World Atlas of Language Structures (OUP 2005). His most recent work has been in collaboration with population geneticists, archaeologists, and anthropologists in order to address questions relating to prehistoric human migrations. In 2017 he received the Neil & Saras Smith Medal for Linguistics, a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy.

• Preface List of tables, diagrams, figures, and maps Abbreviations and symbols 1: Introduction 2: Phonemes 3: Stems 4: Words 5: Phrases 6: Clauses 7: Complex sentences 8: Discourse phenomena 9: Texts 10: Conclusion and prospects Appendix A. Original spellings and translations of examples (1)-(1068) Appendix B. Comparative Akabea-Akarbale basic lexical items Online appendix: Portman's Akabea Dialogues References Author index Language index Subject index