Ideophones in Alto Perené (Arawak) from Eastern Peru

Abstract

This research is a first attempt to survey ideophones in the Amazonian Arawak language Alto Perene (a.k.a. Ashéninka Perene). Based on fieldwork data, this study shows that ideophones constitute a separate class of words in Alto Perene in view of their distinctive phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties. The study also draws on primary and secondary data from three other genetically related neighboring language varieties (Ashéninka Pichis, Asháninka Tambo-Ene, and Kakinte) to demonstrate a moderate degree of interdialect variation. The study suggests the possibility that the following properties may be regional affinities: non-canonical stress assignment; word class-specific reduplication of the word-final syllabic segments -ri, -re, -ro, -pi, -po expressing spatial distribution, intensity, or repeated/durative/open-ended temporal structure of the reported event; productive ( Vj/c-suffixation contributing to the expression of punctual/perfective aspect; syntactic functions of appositional or coordinated predicate, co-verb, complement, and adverb; prevalence of Gestalt packaging of sensory events; a dearth of ideophones describing states.

Composite ideophone-gesture utterances in the Ashéninka Perené ‘community of practice’, an Amazonian Arawak society from Central-Eastern Peru

“…This section provides a brief summary of the ideophonic system and ideophone use among Ashéninka Perené Arawaks (see Mihas, 2012, for a comprehensive account of Ashéninka Perené ideophones). By definition, ideophones constitute a special class of "marked words that vividly depict sensory events" (Dingemanse, 2009).…”

Chapter 1. ‘Ideophone’ as a comparative concept

“…To show how the current definition builds on earlier comparative work, Table 1 compares a number of accounts of ideophones used or intended for cross-linguistic comparisons. Other properties than those listed here have been considered, though not as widely: ideophones have been described as "vivid" (Doke 1935), "syntactically isolated" (Nuckolls 1996), and "context-dependent" (Moshi 1993). These features either directly follow from the basic properties (all depictions are vivid performances by nature, and as such require a degree of syntactic freedom) or are not unique to ideophones -ideophones do not seem more context-dependent than other words in face-to-face interaction.…”

Ideophones (Mimetics, Expressives)

“…Ideophones offer one of the best places to observe the possibility space for iconic associations between sound and sense. Formal aspects of speech like acoustic properties, articulatory gestures, prosody, and higherlevel features like syllable structure and reduplication may be iconically associated with a wide range of semantic features like sound, size, movement, intensity, texture, duration, aspect, and valence (Westermann, 1927;Diffloth, 1972;Nuckolls, 1999;Mihas, 2012).…”