ABSTRACT
In this section, I wish to give a general survey of the distribution of the languages of the world, in terms of their genetic affiliation. I will therefore be talking primarily about the distribution of language families, although reference will be made to individual languages where appropriate. The discussion will concentrate on languages and language families not covered in individual chapters, and at appropriate places I have digressed to give a brief discussion of some interesting structural or sociological point in the language being treated.
