OLAC Record oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/26122

Metadata
Title:		Pisamira(tuo) and Yurutí(yui): Split halfway. A sociocultural view from a linguistic research
Bibliographic Citation:		Valencia Perez, Elizabeth, Rodríguez, Iveth, Valencia Perez, Elizabeth, Rodríguez, Iveth; 2013-03-03; The study of endangered languages raises the need to consider how the sociocultural practices related to language use are affected by the threatening situation of such languages. In this talk, I present some reflections on this topic drawn from the experience our research group has had during the documentation and description of two endangered languages from the Vaupés region in Colombia. Pisamira (scarcely 12 speakers) and Yurutí (around 600 speakers) belong to the Eastern Tukanoan (ET) linguistic subfamily in Northwest Amazonia. Their cultural practices such as manufacturing musical instruments, building a maloka, practicing and playing carrizo have been mentioned in the existing literature about ET groups. Nevertheless, very little members do actually have this knowledge and do apply it in their daily life. From a linguistic perspective, it has been proven through the comparative method that Pisamira and Yuruti keep consistent similarities in lexical, morphological and syntactical paradigms, and systematic changes in their phonological patterns (e.g. the loss of tones -characteristic of ET languages- in Pisamira and other phonological variations). Moreover, both languages present some loanwords from other languages in the region, including Spanish, as well as lexical innovation. We have traced those changes by analyzing their close relationships in the past. As they state, both groups used to intermarry and share territories, until Pisamiras left their ancestral lands. The actual sociolinguistic status of these groups varies enormously. Pisamiras are critically endangered. With less than a hundred members and living surrounded by Cubeos whose language is dominant, most of Pisamiras no longer speak their language and many do not even understand it. On the contrary, Yurutís are well organised and work towards the preservation of their cultural practices and language. Still, there are some changes in their social organisation. The linguistic exogamy, one of the most outstanding traits in ET culture, evidenced in the language with a large set of words differentiating the way relationships go (mother’s or father’s family, cross-cousins), is changing as a more flexible view of the possibilities of intermarrying is developed. Will the core meaning of these terms be affected by these cultural changes? We will discuss some questions arisen from the situations presented; Is the linguistic area of the Vaupés facing a change of sociocultural paradigms (due to the contact or other factors)? What would be the implications of current practices in the future?; Kaipuleohone University of Hawai'i Digital Language Archive;http://hdl.handle.net/10125/26122.
Contributor (speaker):		Valencia Perez, Elizabeth
		Rodríguez, Iveth
Creator:		Valencia Perez, Elizabeth
		Rodríguez, Iveth
Date (W3CDTF):		2013-03-03
Description:		The study of endangered languages raises the need to consider how the sociocultural practices related to language use are affected by the threatening situation of such languages. In this talk, I present some reflections on this topic drawn from the experience our research group has had during the documentation and description of two endangered languages from the Vaupés region in Colombia. Pisamira (scarcely 12 speakers) and Yurutí (around 600 speakers) belong to the Eastern Tukanoan (ET) linguistic subfamily in Northwest Amazonia. Their cultural practices such as manufacturing musical instruments, building a maloka, practicing and playing carrizo have been mentioned in the existing literature about ET groups. Nevertheless, very little members do actually have this knowledge and do apply it in their daily life. From a linguistic perspective, it has been proven through the comparative method that Pisamira and Yuruti keep consistent similarities in lexical, morphological and syntactical paradigms, and systematic changes in their phonological patterns (e.g. the loss of tones -characteristic of ET languages- in Pisamira and other phonological variations). Moreover, both languages present some loanwords from other languages in the region, including Spanish, as well as lexical innovation. We have traced those changes by analyzing their close relationships in the past. As they state, both groups used to intermarry and share territories, until Pisamiras left their ancestral lands. The actual sociolinguistic status of these groups varies enormously. Pisamiras are critically endangered. With less than a hundred members and living surrounded by Cubeos whose language is dominant, most of Pisamiras no longer speak their language and many do not even understand it. On the contrary, Yurutís are well organised and work towards the preservation of their cultural practices and language. Still, there are some changes in their social organisation. The linguistic exogamy, one of the most outstanding traits in ET culture, evidenced in the language with a large set of words differentiating the way relationships go (mother’s or father’s family, cross-cousins), is changing as a more flexible view of the possibilities of intermarrying is developed. Will the core meaning of these terms be affected by these cultural changes? We will discuss some questions arisen from the situations presented; Is the linguistic area of the Vaupés facing a change of sociocultural paradigms (due to the contact or other factors)? What would be the implications of current practices in the future?
Identifier (URI):		http://hdl.handle.net/10125/26122
Language:		English
Language (ISO639):		eng
Rights:		Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Table Of Contents:		26122.mov
		26122.mp3
OLAC Info
Archive:		Language Documentation and Conservation
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/ldc.scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/26122
DateStamp:		2017-05-11
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		Valencia Perez, Elizabeth; Rodríguez, Iveth. 2013. Language Documentation and Conservation.
Terms:		area_Europe country_GB iso639_eng