Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Grammar of Huambisa

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

This project will produce a comprehensive grammar of Huambisa, an endangered Jivaroan language of Peru, located in a region rich in natural resources. Known as fierce warriors with a strong sense of freedom, the Huambisa, their language and culture have so far managed to survive despite past and current external pressures that seek to exploit their resource-rich territory. Despite the fact that the Jivaroan peoples are located in an important geographical and ecological niche between the Andes and the Amazonian regions, the Huambisa language has received little prior documentation. The research is based on linguistic analysis of interviews and authentic interactions among Huambisa speakers. The information on which the grammar is based will be organized into databases, professionally archived and made available to the general public and the communities where the fieldwork takes place. The documentary material includes a trilingual Huambisa-Spanish-English vocabulary, analyzed texts and elicited data, audio and video recordings, and still photographs. The grammar is informed by current linguistic theory, taking into account typological, diachronic and language contact perspectives. A primary question addressed on the basis of the grammatical description is whether Huambisa is more like Andean or Amazonian languages, and how contact with other languages has affected its historical development. As the first detailed grammar of Huambisa, this project contributes both to research on Jivaroan languages and to Andean and Amazonian studies. As the grammar sheds light on linguistic and cultural practices of the Huambisa (oratory strategies, greeting and unusual formal salutation rituals, and other traditional genres), as well as on their detailed traditional knowledge of the rivers and forest, and their history of interactions with other groups, it is of scientific interest to anthropology, biology, ecology, ethnolinguistics and history, among other fields. The project will train native speakers in recording and transcribing. It will be carried out collaboratively with members of Boca Chinganaza, a Huambisa village, and it will help meet their expressed needs to develop and promote their language. In particular, the text and lexicographic materials will provide a basis for developing teaching and literacy materials for local intercultural schools in the future.