Introduction to Laryngeal Features in Languages of the Americas

This introductory chapter establishes the theoretical framework for our edited volume on laryngeal features in indigenous languages of the Americas. As co-authors of this introduction, we contextualize the specialized studies that follow and highlight the importance of this phonetic and phonological domain across different language families of North, Central, and South America.

The chapter addresses how research on laryngeal features has been unevenly distributed across language families, with some receiving more thorough documentation than others. We also outline how languages in North America tend to be categorized based on whether they employ tone or non-modal phonation as primary laryngeal features, setting the stage for more detailed analyses in the subsequent chapters.