With some 108 independent genealogical units, South America is the linguistically most diverse region of our planet and presents a particular challenge to linguists seeking to understand the genealogical relationships among human languages. Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the internal classification of South American language families, and this article provides a critical overview of research in this very active area, focusing on the seven largest language families of the continent: Arawakan, Cariban, Jê, Panoan, Quechuan, Tukanoan, and Tupian. The strengths and weaknesses of major classification proposals are examined, and directions for future research discussed. Several long-distance relationship proposals that South Americanists are actively debating, including Tupi-Cariban, Pano-Takanan, Quechumaran, TuKaJê, and Macro-Jê, are also examined. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Linguistics, Volume 7 is January 14, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

中文翻译：

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南美语言分类

南美洲拥有大约 108 个独立的系谱单元，是地球上语言最多样化的地区，对寻求理解人类语言之间系谱关系的语言学家提出了特殊的挑战。近年来，人们对南美语系内部分类的兴趣重新抬头，本文对这一非常活跃的领域的研究进行了批判性概述，重点关注该大陆的七个最大语系：阿拉瓦坎语、加勒比语、日语、 Panoan、Quechuan、Tukanoan 和 Tupian。审查了主要分类建议的优缺点，并讨论了未来研究的方向。南美主义者正在积极讨论的几个长距离关系提案，包括 Tupi-Cariban、Pano-Takanan、Quechumaran、TuKaJê 和 Macro-Jê，也被审查。《语言学年度评论》第 7 卷的预计最终在线出版日期为 2021 年 1 月 14 日。有关修订后的估计，请参阅 http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates。