Lecture 9

Question 1

Chicham languages

Answer 1

Shuar

Aguaruna

Huambisa

Achuar

Shiwiar

Question 2

Patrilocal linguistic exogamy

Answer 2

Ppl marry speakers of different languages while living in a community where the husbands family is the center of residence

This results in stable multilingualism

Question 3

Lexical borrowing

Answer 3

Although Shiwiar people are multilingual, language mixing or code
switching between Indigenous languages is rare

Shiwiar exhibits very low rates of lexical borrowings, like many
northern Amazonian languages

This is due to attitudes that relate to language and identity

Question 4

No language endangerment

Answer 4

The Shiwiar people are multilingual, but the main language of all
Shiwiar villages is Shiwiar.
 The language is being transmitted to younger generations.
 There is no generalised concern about language endangerment given
that the language is spoken by virtually the entire Nation

Question 5

Knowledge endangerment

Answer 5

However, missionisation and integration in the broader Ecuadorean
society have brought on a rapid change of lifestyle.
 Many aspects of traditional knowledge are not transmitted to
younger generations.
 The realisation that this knowledge is becoming critically endangered
has alarmed the community

Question 6

Community driven projects

Answer 6

Documentation of three areas of endangered cultural knowledge
have been a priority of community members:
a) Traditional prayers and incantations (anent)
b) Knowledge of flora and fauna (including an avoidance register used for
hunting)
c) Toponymy

Question 7

Anent

Answer 7

Anent is a private/spiritual genre of speech
 It resembles prayers/incantations in other cultures
 Anent songs can be used either to achieve a personal goal/desire
(usually related to love) or to communicate with spiritual entities

Question 8

Avoidance register

Answer 8

The most frequently hunted animals have an alternate name used
during hunting

Question 9

Motivation for loans

Answer 9

The hunting avoidance register seems to provide a vehicle for lexical
borrowing in Shiwiar, even in conditions where lexical borrowing is
discouraged
 From the point of view of an outsider linguist, the hunting avoidance
register would have been difficult, if not impossible, to document
without the documentation of hunting practices

Question 10

Shiwiar place names

Answer 10

Most Shiwiar hydronyms are compounds with 2 components:
a) The first component is most often an individual person’s name or
flora/fauna; the second component is the word river (�́nt͡sa) or lake (mamús):
• t͡ʃuín ɨnt͡sa ‘Chuin’s river’ (Chuin is a Shiwiar male name)

B) first component can also be adjective or common noun
- small river
-misty river

C) occasionally the second component is the word namak (fish)
-naja namak (big fish. Which means big river)

D) village names are most often contracted from a river name
-tjuinsta (from thin insta “chains river”)

E) in contracted forms 2nd component is often lenited (softened)
- intsa “river ” becomes indza

F)high frequency toponyms are lenited even further
-pumpu insta > pumpuntsa> pumbundza> pupunas

Question 12

Palta. Language described as…

Answer 12

In colonial chronicles as having been spoken in what is now highlands of southern ecuador

Only 4 palta words are documented in Jimenez de la Espada (1965:143)

3 of these words have been suggested as very tentative chicham cognates in the literature

Question 13

Palta

A detailed examination of place names in Palta area reveals an even stronger chicham connection

Answer 13

A) many hydronyms end in <-as> just like high frequency Shiwiar toponyms do
-calvas, guararas, catanas

B) many toponyms end in <-anga>. In chicham languages means narrowing (to describe a river gorge)
-ajilanga, sozoranga, orianga

C) whenever the first element of a toponym has a recognizable cognate, it refers to a person, flora, fauna, or culturally important object
-casanga Cf. Chicham KASA (thief)

Question 14

Similarities in toponymie patterns found in modern day chicham areas and in historical palta areas

Answer 14

A) similarities in the form of toponyms (2 part compounds)

B) Similarities in the semantics of the respective first and second components
within the compound

C) Further supporting evidence based on the geographic distribution of the toponyms

This is compelling evidence to support the claim that Palta may have been a Chicham language.

Question 15

Final thoughts

Answer 15

1) The documentation of endangered knowledge is a vital goal – even in cases where languages are not strictly endangered in terms of
numbers of speakers and transmission
2) Documenting the knowledge surrounding toponyms enriches our
understanding of linguistic patterns.
3) In the case of southern Ecuador, a thorough documentation of
Shiwiar toponymy led to unexpected advances in the understanding of languages that have not been spoken for over 400
years

Question 16

Evidence for large scale cultural exchange

Answer 16

-domesticated plant resources
: manioc. Peach palm. Brazil nut
- manioc processing technology
: tipiti, hammock

-local Amazonian systems were connected via complex trade networks

-and other interaction (Arawak topographic record in ritual discourse)
: sacred routes and places

• Themes in myth cosmology astronomy
• discursive structures and practices