Arawak Linguistics and Max Schmidt’s Account of Arawak Expansion

Although Max Schmidt’s thesis focuses on the expansion of Arawak cultures, language consistently looms in the background of Schmidt’s work as an important marker of cultural affinity and symptom of cultural influence. As a consequence, linguistics -and linguistic classification in particular -plays an important role in Schmidt’s thesis. In this chapter I discuss the role played by linguistics in Schmidt’s work; the status of the linguistic evidence he adduces to support his arguments in light of modern Arawak comparative linguistics and research on language contact; and directions for future research suggested by Schmidt’s diffusionist hypothesis.