Projectdetails

The proposed research has two aims: The primary aim is to write two full descriptive grammars, one of Wapishana (Arawakan) and one of Wayana (Cariban). Both languages are spoken in the southern Guianas, namely in Guyana and in Suriname. Wapishana has approximately 4000-5000 speakers whose number is steadily decreasing, and Wayana has approximately 700 speakers. In both communities there is a negative language attitude that is directly attributable to the marginalized positions of the communities vis-à-vis the relevant national context, and both communities have already started to shift to the national language and/or lingua franca of the respective country. Both languages are very poorly documented, in fact, we know practically nothing about the language of the Wapishana, and the most detailed work on Wayana was carried out by the Dutch explorer/anthropologist C.H. de Goeje at the beginning of the twentieth century, whose work has left us with a summary grammatical sketch of the language.

The secondary aim of the proposed research is to chart and describe the culturally-dependent conceptualization patterns that obtain in these languages such as classificatory patterns in the locative and directional postpositions, evidentiality patterns, the functions and behaviour of what have been termed "truth and knowledge" markers such as have been described for related languages, for example, the frustrative, assertive, and affective markers. In writing the proposed grammars the researchers will pay special attention to such specific cognitive features of these languages with an aim to creating an over-arching scheme of how these features function in the languages of the region.

Both communities have specifically asked the postdoc researcher for this documentation and are more than willing to cooperate in this research.

Bijdragen aan boeken

• Dr E.B. Carlin, K Brown (2006). Guyana: language situation.. in: Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 5.. Oxford: pp. 185-186.
• Dr E.B. Carlin, K. Brown (2006). Suriname: Language situation.. in: Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 12.. Oxford: pp. 299-302.
• E.B. Carlin, W Wetzels (2009). Truth and Knowledge markers in Wayana (Cariban), Suriname. in: The Linguistics of Endangered Languages. Utrecht: pp. 135-150.