Gilii recognized
sound correspondences (e.g. between : : in the
Cariban family) and predated philologist
William Jones' third discourse suggesting genealogical relationships between languages. Unlike Jones, Gilii presented evidence in support of his hypothesis. For example, he proposed the
Maipurean (Arawakan) language family in 1783, three years before
William Jones famously concieved of the
Indo-European language family. He also discussed major concepts of linguistics such as
areal features between unrelated languages,
loanwords (among American languages and from American languages into European languages),
word order,
language death,
language origins, and nursery forms of child language (i.e.
Lallwörter) discussed by
Roman Jakobson. Gilii’s work included the identification of nine “mother languages” () spoken in the Orinoco area. His classification was one of the earliest proposals of South American language families and provided a framework for future
linguistic studies in the region.
Major works Gilii’s most notable work is , published in four volumes in 1780. This comprehensive work covered various aspects of the natural, civil, and sacred history of the
Spanish provinces in mainland South America. In this work, Gilii discussed major concepts of linguistics such as areal features between unrelated languages, loanwords,
word order,
language death,
language origins, and nursery forms of child language. His discussions on these topics were ahead of his time and laid the groundwork for future linguistic research.
Gilii's nine lenguas matrices Gilii found that the languages spoken in the Orinoco area belonged to nine "mother languages", language families: • Caribe (
Cariban) •
Sáliva (
Salivan) •
Maipure (
Maipurean) •
Otomaca &
Taparíta (
Otomacoan) •
Guama & Quaquáro (
Guamo) •
Guahiba (
Guajiboan) •
Yaruro • Guaraúno (
Warao) •
Aruáco (
Arhuacan) == Legacy ==