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Vol. 58, no. 4 (Winter 2016)

Contents

Abstracts

Classifiers in Shiwilu (Kawapanan) in Northwestern Amazonian Perspective

Pilar M. Valenzuela
Chapman University

Abstract. 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.

Diminutive Nouns in Miami-Illinois

David J. Costa
Myaamia Center at Miami University

Abstract. Almost all Algonquian languages use diminutive suffixes on nouns and, in some languages, on verbs as well. The formation of diminutive nouns in Miami-Illinois is very complex, and much more irregular than that seen in the most closely related Algonquian languages. I discuss here patterns of diminutive noun formation in Miami-Illinois; besides comparing them to those found in its sister languages when relevant, I demonstrate which forms are unpredictable, and discuss philological problems of phonemic interpretation posed by the original records.

The Grammar of Politics: Morality, Agency, and Voice Selection in Toraja Political Discourse

Aurora Donzelli
Sarah Lawrence College

Abstract. Voice alternations in Austronesian languages have typically been explained either in terms of clausal transitivity or in terms of nominal pragmatic salience. Here I combine grammatical and ethnographic analysis to argue that speakers of Toraja (a language of Sulawesi) select grammatical voice forms to represent moral and political stances with respect to ongoing actions; voice selection is connected to the micropolitics of situated interaction and to the broader cultural context (vernacular moral theories and local styles of self-presentation). Patient voice mitigates the assignment of agency, and thus aids in reproducing local models of the disinterested and subdued political self; conversely, actor voice projects an agentive and authoritative speaking subject. Such integrated analysis not only reveals the essential role of linguistic practices in reproducing a community’s moral system, but also advances the understanding of voice alternation.

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