Papers by Pilar Valenzuela
Journal of the International Phonetic Association, Dec 1, 2001
The Shipibo language is spoken by about 30,000 people in the Ucayali River valley, in the Upper A... more The Shipibo language is spoken by about 30,000 people in the Ucayali River valley, in the Upper Amazon watershed in the central eastern part of Peru. The language is sometimes also called Shipibo-Conibo after the two main previously distinct ethnic groups which form its speakers. It is a member of the Panoan family and thus is related to such languages as Capanahua, Amahuaca and Chacobo. Panoan languages are principally found in Peru but the family also has members in Bolivia and Brazil. This description is based on the speech of the second author, a 30-year-old male from the village of Dos Unidos de Pachitea. The Rã Âo Pachitea¯ows into the Ucayali, which itself forms one of the major headwaters of the Amazon.
BRILL eBooks, 2011
Shipibo-Konibo (SK) exhibits Transitivity Harmony restrictions in two types of multiverb construc... more Shipibo-Konibo (SK) exhibits Transitivity Harmony restrictions in two types of multiverb constructions: (a) Asymmetrical verb combinations and (b) biclausal, same-subject constructions. This chapter briefly discusses instances of Transitivity Harmony in five additional Pano languages: Matses, Yaminawa, Kashinawa, Chakobo and Kashibo-Kakataibo, and suggests possible origins for some of the multiverb constructions. It investigates complex predicate constructions exhibiting Transitivity Harmony restrictions in SK. The chapter introduces the different valency changing/assigning mechanisms of SK verbs, and describes mono-word serial verb constructions exhibiting Transitivity Harmony. It deals with Transitivity Harmony in chained constructions involving phasal verbs, and presents data suggesting how certain chained expressions may develop into serial verb constructions. It also shows that Transitivity Harmony is found throughout the Pano family and in the Takana language Cavinena. Finally the chapter provides final remarks and some thoughts on the possible origins of Transitivity Harmony constructions. Keywords: complex predicate constructions; Multi-Verb Predicates; multiverb constructions; Pano languages; Shipibo-Konibo; Transitivity Harmony
Oxford University Press eBooks, Apr 14, 2005
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 21, 2022
The chapter offers an account of the principal constructions involving body-part terms in Shiwilu... more The chapter offers an account of the principal constructions involving body-part terms in Shiwilu (aka Jebero), a critically endangered polysynthetic language from the Peruvian Amazon and one of the two members that make up the Kawapanan family. First, Shiwilu features a set of over twenty classifiers. These are, typically, monosyllabic bound roots that appear in a remarkable number of morphosyntactic environments (Valenzuela 2016a, 2019). There are very close formal and semantic resemblances between inanimate classifiers and independent nouns designating parts of plants and animals; hence, the diachronic relationship between them is explored. Second, it is argued that three classifiers whose meanings are associated with ‘tree trunk’, ‘skin/bark’, and ‘body’ have developed into instrumental, habitual-agent, and resultative nominalizers, respectively. This constitutes a diachronic change from grammatical morphemes to even more strongly grammaticalized ones. Third, classifiers and certain nouns, especially those that denote body parts, may incorporate into the verb mainly to create new vocabulary for nameworthy concepts or to manipulate the flow of information in discourse (Mithun 1984, 1986, 1994). Various types of compounded verbs are analyzed, including some conveying physiological states, customary activities or states, and emotions; the latter can involve the internal organ noun kankan ‘liver’. Some discourse consequences of noun/classifier incorporation are also examined. Finally, it is shown that incorporated items can refer not only to the clausal O and S, but also to the A. This characteristic is very rarely attested in the world’s languages.
Lexis, 2015
"…las conexiones entre las tierras altas y bajas son longevas, dinámicas, fluctuantes y multidire... more "…las conexiones entre las tierras altas y bajas son longevas, dinámicas, fluctuantes y multidireccionales. Captarlas en toda su complejidad es una tarea que está por hacer en buena cuenta". (Kaulicke 2013: 25).
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 1997
UniverSOS: revista de lenguas indígenas y universos culturales, 2008
Acceso de usuarios registrados. Acceso de usuarios registrados Usuario Contraseña. ...
Lexis, May 3, 1995
El contenido de este artículo forma parte de un trabajo más amplio en el que se estudia las varia... more El contenido de este artículo forma parte de un trabajo más amplio en el que se estudia las variantes fonológicas del Quechua 11 Sureño, realizado en el marco del Proyecto Perú-Birf 11 para la expansión de la educación bilingüe (INIDE 1989), con la asesoría científica del Dr. Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino. El trabajo de campo se llevó a cabo en seis departamentos del llamado Trapecio Andino: Arequipa, Moquegua, Puno, Cuzco, Apurímac y Ayacucho. En esta Area geográfica encontramos dos dialectos distintos, el "cuzqueño-puneño" y el "ayacuchano", además de zonas de transición entre ambos en las que se atestigua el paso de un dialecto a otro como una especie de continuum. El corpus analizado se obtuvo principalmente mediante la recopilación directa de la información, entrevistando a quechuahablantes en sus lugares de origen o en zonas cercanas donde se hallaban de paso. * Deseo expresar mi profundo agradecimiento al Dr. Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino, por la oportunidad de participar en este proyecto, y por recoger mi inquietud de plasmar parte de Jos resultados en este artículo. Asimismo, tuvo la gentileza de leer las primeras versiones, proporcionándome valiosas sugerencias y precisiones. La responsabilidad por los defectos que este artículo pudiera contener es exclusivamente mía.
Elsevier eBooks, 2006
Following the traditional division into Pacific Coast, Andes, and Amazonia, this article provides... more Following the traditional division into Pacific Coast, Andes, and Amazonia, this article provides an overview of the sociolinguistic situation in Peru, a country where 20–25% of its approximately 28 million inhabitants speaks an indigenous language. The diversity and degree of endangerment of indigenous Andean and Amazonian languages are discussed, as well as the factors playing a decisive role in their preservation or displacement. Spanish, the only language with unconditional official status, is spoken as a first or second language by the large majority of the population. Finally, the few foreign languages spoken in Peru are mentioned.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 21, 2022
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, 2010
... no-n no-n no-a 2. plural (57) mato-n mato-n mato 3. plural (11)-(14) jato-n~ jabaon jato-n~ j... more ... no-n no-n no-a 2. plural (57) mato-n mato-n mato 3. plural (11)-(14) jato-n~ jabaon jato-n~ jabaon jato~ jabo 'who?'(7 ... maintained even in cases of less prototypical transitive events: Non-volitional, non-controller, non-initiator agents (18) Oin-xon-ma-bi yexké-kin-ra, Sani-n Wexá ...
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2017
Written by a specialist in Panoan languages and a specialist in Takanan languages, this article o... more Written by a specialist in Panoan languages and a specialist in Takanan languages, this article opens the first publication devoted to the joint analysis of phonological and grammatical aspects in these two South American families. The Panoan family comprises over thirty extant and extinct languages from the bordering regions of Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia, whereas the Takanan family is nowadays composed of five languages spoken in northern Bolivia, one of which extends into southeastern Peru. After offering a contemporary overview of Panoan and Takanan languages, we register, in chronological order, the main descriptive works on these languages. The studies are organized in three different periods according to the characteristics of most authors: (a) studies by missionaries and explorers, (b) studies by missionary-linguists affiliated to the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and (c) doctoral dissertations containing substantial synchronic descriptions of particular languages. With regard to Panoan languages we must highlight within the third period the protagonism of Brazilian and Peruvian linguists, trained, at least partially, in universities of their respective countries of origin. Then, we deal with the internal classification of the Panoan and Takanan families, the efforts to reconstruct the respective protolanguages, and the various proposals of external relations of these two families, including the discussion of the probable genetic relationship between Panoan and Takanan. Next, we provide a list of linguistic features shared by both families, as well as other features specific to each family. Finally, we summarize the contents of the remaining twelve articles that make the present collection. These are organized in four thematic groups: phonology and prosody, verbal morphology, argument marking, and agreement.
International Journal of American Linguistics, Apr 1, 2018
Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 2001
Liames, Feb 16, 2023
The languages of the Pano and Takana families exhibit a considerable number of lexical and struct... more The languages of the Pano and Takana families exhibit a considerable number of lexical and structural affinities that cannot be ascribed to mere chance and are not readily detectable instances of borrowing. After the comparative studies by Key (1968) and Girard (1971) the proposal of a genetic relationship between these two families was generally
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2017
Written by a specialist in Panoan languages and a specialist in Takanan languages, this article o... more Written by a specialist in Panoan languages and a specialist in Takanan languages, this article opens the first publication devoted to the joint analysis of phonological and grammatical aspects in these two South American families. The Panoan family comprises over thirty extant and extinct languages from the bordering regions of Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia, whereas the Takanan family is nowadays composed of five languages spoken in northern Bolivia, one of which extends into southeastern Peru. After offering a contemporary overview of Panoan and Takanan languages, we register, in chronological order, the main descriptive works on these languages. The studies are organized in three different periods according to the characteristics of most authors: (a) studies by missionaries and explorers, (b) studies by missionary-linguists affiliated to the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and (c) doctoral dissertations containing substantial synchronic descriptions of particular languages. With regard to Panoan languages we must highlight within the third period the protagonism of Brazilian and Peruvian linguists, trained, at least partially, in universities of their respective countries of origin. Then, we deal with the internal classification of the Panoan and Takanan families, the efforts to reconstruct the respective protolanguages, and the various proposals of external relations of these two families, including the discussion of the probable genetic relationship between Panoan and Takanan. Next, we provide a list of linguistic features shared by both families, as well as other features specific to each family. Finally, we summarize the contents of the remaining twelve articles that make the present collection. These are organized in four thematic groups: phonology and prosody, verbal morphology, argument marking, and agreement.
Interface Focus, Dec 9, 2022
Although language-family specific traits which do not find direct counterparts outside a given la... more Although language-family specific traits which do not find direct counterparts outside a given language family are usually ignored in quantitative phylogenetic studies, scholars have made ample use of them in qualitative investigations, revealing their potential for identifying language relationships. An example of such a family specific trait are body-part expressions in Pano languages, which are often lexicalized forms, composed of bound roots (also called body-part prefixes in the literature) and non-productive derivative morphemes (called here body-part formatives). We use various statistical methods to demonstrate that whereas body-part roots are generally conservative, bodypart formatives exhibit diverse chronologies and are often the result of recent and parallel innovations. In line with this, the phylogenetic structure of bodypart roots projects the major branches of the family, while formatives are highly non-tree-like. Beyond its contribution to the phylogenetic analysis of Pano languages, this study provides significative insights into the role of grammatical innovations for language classification, the origin of morphological complexity in the Amazon and the phylogenetic signal of specific grammatical traits in language families.
Anthropological Linguistics, 2016
Kawapanan is a little-known linguistic family from northwestern Amazonia composed of two language... more Kawapanan is a little-known linguistic family from northwestern Amazonia composed of two languages, Shiwilu and Shawi. This article offers the first detailed account of a Kawapanan classifier system. Shiwilu classifying morphemes are analyzed in terms of their semantics, morphosyntax, and functions. In addition to describing a central property of a vanishing language, this work seeks to contribute to the discussion on the nominal categorization mechanisms of northwestern Amazonia, a topic especially relevant for linguistic typology and our understanding of language contact and areality in South America.
Anthropological Linguistics, 2000
... These resources include the gigantic paiche or piraructi (Arapaima gigas), catfish, armored c... more ... These resources include the gigantic paiche or piraructi (Arapaima gigas), catfish, armored catfish, piranha, boqui-chico, bagre, caimans, and aquatic mammals, such as the edible manatee, and the dolphin, which the Shipibo consider inedible. ...
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010
The Shiwilu, a.k.a. Jebero, are an Amazonian people from northeastern Peru. Although their popula... more The Shiwilu, a.k.a. Jebero, are an Amazonian people from northeastern Peru. Although their population is as high as 2,000, intergenerational transmission of the Shiwilu language ceased decades ago; presently there are only a few elderly speakers. Due to significant loss of traditional culture, language displacement in favor of Spanish, and a high degree of intermarriage with the Mestizo (non-Indian) population, the Shiwilu were undergoing in the twentieth century a process of ethnic disintegration, being even considered part of the Mestizo peasant population. Surprisingly, an internal movement starting in the 1990s promoted the revalorization of Shiwilu identity and led to their reclassification as a distinct indigenous group. The Native language plays a strategic role; it is the only remaining, tangible cultural element that legitimizes the Shiwilu's claim to being an indigenous people and ensures their recognition as such by others. However, this historical moment coincides with what appears to be the imminent disappearance of Shiwilu. This article provides the necessary context to better understand the importance that the Shiwilu place on their ethnic language, and discusses the challenges faced by those working for its survival. Some of the points raised here may be applicable to other peoples in similar situations, both in Amazonia and beyond.
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Papers by Pilar Valenzuela