A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia (Cambridge Grammatical Descriptions) [Paperback]

Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521028868 | ISBN-13: 978-0521028868 | Publication Date: November 2, 2006 | Edition: 1

The speakers of Tariana, an endangered Arawak language from the northwest Amazonian jungle, traditionally marry someone speaking a different language; therefore, most are fluent in five or six languages. This comprehensive grammar reveals how Tariana combines its own features with those borrowed from neighboring languages because of the rampant multilingualism. The language has many unusual properties, making this grammar a valuable sourcebook for linguists and others interested in natural languages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[...]a masterly piece of work[...]useful to the ordinary working linguist[...]It can be used as a model for writing a detailed technical grammar of an unusual language. It is an excellent model for anyone who must write a grammar of a severely endangered language, especially when the grammar is likely to be THE scholarly repository for all human time of that language's structure."
-Terry Malone, SIL

Book Description

This is a comprehensive reference grammar of Tariana, an endangered Arawak language from the northwest Amazonian jungle. Its speakers traditionally marry someone speaking a different language, and therefore most people are fluent in five or six languages. Because of this rampant multilingualism, Tariana combines its own features with those borrowed from neighbouring languages. The language has many unusual properties, including evidentiality: every sentence contains a special element indicating how the speaker acquired the information. This grammar will be a valuable source-book for linguists and others interested in natural languages.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 732 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (November 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521028868
• ISBN-13: 978-0521028868
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,535,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Amazonian language, March 26, 2010

By 

Geraldo Faria "Indigenous literature" (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia (Cambridge Grammatical Descriptions) (Paperback)

The Tariana people, located at the confluence of O°16'52.78"N 68°37'26.37"W, are an Amazonian indigenous group doomed to extinction. Due to endo- and exogenous reasons (i.e. marriage can only take place between speakers of different languages, as speakers of the same language are considered siblings) and, to say the least, for other anthropological reasons. Tariana is spoken actively only by 100 people over a radius of more than 600 kilometers, and each of them can and actively speaks various languages.

Alexandra Aikhenvald has painstakingly gathered over 1700 pages of texts and word lists of this endangered language collected during 5 fieldtrips in the 90's, and with the precision of fine surgeon dissected its grammar. A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia consists of over 700 pages where she initially compiled pertinent data in a descriptive form, and followed by a meticulous breakdown of various grammatical categories in an analytical format. The Tariana phonology comes first after the introductory chapter. Verbs, nouns and adjectives are analyzed next. Morphology and Syntax are looked at from various angles. Valency, evidentiality, TAM (tense, aspect, mood/modality) comes after. Serial verb constructions, nominalization and discourse organization are all investigated in various chapters, leading to a concluding chapter on etymology and semantics of the language. An unfortunately font selection caused the appendix on Tariana-English vocabulary (pages 671-681) slightly confusing as the Tariana words are not distinguished from English by font type or bold/italicization.

An assortment of valuable points have been raised and properly described over 26 chapters. For instance, vowel harmonization in its phonology, and open versus closed word classes in a non-binary format. Postposition particles were meticulously described, being a common trait in most Amazonian languages and also shared with Altaic languages. Prepositional possessors were carefully categorized so that one can properly enunciate inalienable possessions. Various aspects of the language illustrate how little is known of these endangered languages: alienable versus inalienable possession (for instance, body parts cannot exist without a possessor - a word such as foot can only be expressed if with its owner: your foot, my foot; whereas jungle will not require a possessor). Another precious discovery is the presence of three types of causatives.

The Amazonian forest is as rich as its languages with immeasurable chances for new discoveries. Most of its languages are still undescribed extensively. Alexandra Aikhenvald has published thousands of pages surpassing the work of richly-staffed research laboratories. This book is certainly one of the hardest and the richest she has written in her vast notable work in which she has contrasted a number of grammatical moods with her vast knowledge of Germanic, Balto-Slatic, Italic, Semantic and now Amerindian languages. She has carefully written over 350 articles and books altogether... "Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald has been accorded the rare honor of election to be an Honorary Member of the Linguistic Society of America. The number of LSA Honorary members is limited to 60, and they are spread over 25 nations. Only scholars of particular international distinction are accorded this rare honor. Professor Aikhenvald is one of the youngest linguists ever to be recognized in this way." This is a must-read for the language aficionado or linguist.