The study of languages spoken by the descendants of the original inhabitants of North America has made a number of significant contributions to the development of linguistics. In practically every book that the student of linguistics reads, the impact of work in this area is evident. It would be no exaggeration to say that the lasting and profound influence of such eminent pioneers of linguistics as Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, and Leonard Bloomfield is due in large part to the seminal work they did on structurally diverse Aboriginal languages in North America, especially in Canada.
The value of current research on North American Aboriginal languages stems primarily from the light that it can shed on the nature of human linguistic competence. Besides refuting the popular misconception that these languages are somehow primitive, this work has also uncovered certain structural and semantic phenomena that are not found in more widely studied languages such as English, French, Mandarin, and so on. Another compelling reason for the study of Aboriginal languages is that it can yield clues (sometimes the only ones available) to help resolve problems in archaeology and anthropology (especially ethnohistory) relating to the origin and migration of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is also important to recognize that Aboriginal languages in North America are in a grave state of decline, such that an urgency underlies their study, whether theoretical or historical.