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A Reference
Grammar of Warao
Andres Romero-Figeroa

1997 (1st printing)

2003 (2nd printing)

LINCOM EUROPA
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2nd printing. 1st printing 1997.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

i SECTION ONE: GENERALITIES

: ■-
i
I - ■
; 1. AIMS IAND ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION
i 2. THE WARAD PEOPLE
i 3. DATA BASE OF THE STUDY
■ 4. METHODOLOGY FOR DATA COLLECTION
5. TRANSCRIPTION AND MORPHOPHONEMICS

SECTION TWO: SYNTAX

' 6. ORDER OF CONSTITUENTS IN THE BASIC SIMPLEX SENTENCE

1 7. VERBAL SENTENCES
J 7.1. Subject
{ 7.7. Direct object
j 7.3. Indirect object
j 7.4. Oblique object (or adjunct)
S. COPULATIVE SENTENCES
9. STATIVE SENTENCES
* 10. COMPLEX STRUCTURES
10.1. Parataxis
10.1.1. Paratactic phrases
’ 10.1.2. Paratactical clauses
10.1.2.1. Coordination
! 10.1.2.1.1. Clausal conjuntion
10.1.2.1.2. Clausal adversative junction
• 10.1.2.1.3. Clausal disjunction
, 10.1.2.2. Comparison
10.2. Hypotaxis
10.2.1. Nan-finite clauses
10.2.1.1. Nominal (infinitival) clauses
10.2.2. Finite clauses
10.2.2.1. Adverbial clauses
10.2.2.1.1. Conditional/temporal clauses
10.2.2.1.2. Concessive clauses
: 10.2.2.1.3. Cause clauses
| 10.2.2.1.4. Purpose clauses
| - 10.2.2.1.5. Quotative clauses
i 11. QUESTIONS
| 11.1. Yes/no questions
11.2. Question-word questions
11.3. Echo questions
I 12. NEGATION
| 12.1. Simplex sentence negation (or main clause negation)
i 12.2. Negation in some sententialconstituents
S 12.3. Complex sentence negation
j 13. DIRECT SPEECH
f 14. REFLEXIVES/RECIPROCALS
15. FOCUS
i? 16. ELLIPSIS
17. ANAPHORA
IS. RELATIVES
SECTION THREE: MORPHOLOGY

19. NOUNS
19.1. Possession
19.2. Number
19.3. Case
19.4. Other suffixes a-f nouns
19.5. Attributive nouns
20. DETERMINERS
20.1. Demonstrative determiners
20.2. Interrogative and inde-finite determiners
21. NUMERALS
21.1. Cardinals
21.2. Ordinals
21.3. Distributives
23. PRONOUNS
23.1. -Demonstrative pronouns
23.2. Personal pronouns
23.3. Interrogative pronouns
23.4. Inde-finite pronouns
24. ADVERBIALS
24.1. General modi-fiers
24.2. Manner adverbs
24.3. Location adverbials
24.3.1. Deictic locatives
24.3.2. Locative postpositional phrases
24.3.2.1. General location
24.3.2.2. Superior position and surface contact location
24.3.2.3. Motion past a long object
24.3.2.4. Descending motion
24.3.2.5. Inferior location
24.3.2.6. Proximate location
24.3.2.7. Exterior location
24.3.2.8. Interior location
24.3.2.9. Lateral location
24.3.2.10. Anterior location
24.3.2.11. Remote location
24.3.2.12. Posterior location
24.3.2.13. Transversal location
24.4. Time adverbials
24.4.1. Periods od day
24.4.1.1. Daylight period
24.4.1.2. Dark period
24.4.2. Month and the passing o-f months
24.4.3. Year and the passing of ears
24.4.4. Proximate, remote and punctual time adverbs
24.4.5. Periphrastic legendary past adverbials
24.5. Quantitative adverbs
25. POSTPOSITIONS
25.1. Agentive
25.2. Instrumental
25.3. Comitative
25.4. Possession
25.4.1. a ’o f ’ possessives
25.4.2. abitu ’of' possessives
25; 5.. Cause
25.6. Benefactive
26; VERB AND THE VERB PHRASE
26.1. Morphological structure a f ;verbs
26.1.1. Valency-changing categories: passives and causatives
26.1.2. Tense/aspect and mood
26.1.2.1. Tense
26.1.2.1.1. Past tense
26. !1.2. lL 2:. Non-past tense
26;112.21 Aspect
26.1.2.2.1. Perfective aspect
2611.212.2. Imperfective aspect
26;1.2.2.2.1. Continuative aspect
26;1.2.2.2.2. ‘Inchoative aspect
26.1.2;2.2;3. ,Intentional/unintentional aspect
26.1.2.2.2.4. Punctual/semel-Factive aspect
26.1.2.2.2.5. Iterative/usitative/frequentative aspect
26.1.2.3. Mood
26.1.2.3.1. Conditional mood
2611.2.3.21 Imperative mood
26;1.2.3.3l Potential mood
26.1.213.41 Optative mood
26.1.2.4. Number
26.1.2.5. Auxiliary verb

SECTION FOUR: PHONOLOGY

27. PHONOLOGY
27.1. Phoneme inventory
27.1.1. Consonants
2711.2. Vowels
27;2. Phonetic realizations of the phonemes
27.2.1. Consonants
27.2.2. Vowels
28. PHONQT ACTICS

SECTION FIVE: STYLE

29. SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONSIDERATIONS

30. WARAO SPEECH ACTS AND ASSOCIATED DISCOURSE FEATURES
31. SOCIAL ANTHR0P0LDEICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WARAO
32. RELEVANT WARAO LINGUISTIC PATTERNS IN SOCIAL CONTEXT
33. PARTICIPANTS IN WARAO SPEECH ACTS
33.1. Two participants in the absence (or the presence) of
an audience
33.2. Several participants performing one at a time, or
even several at the same time
33.3. Only one individual addressing an audience
34. WARAO SPEECH STYLES

CONCLUSIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABBREVIATIONS

1 (-first)
2 (second) !
3 (third)
p(erson)
sg (singular)
F'L (ural)
ABL(ative)
ABEN(tive)
ALL(ative)
AUSM(entative)
AUX(iliary)
BY HSY (by hearsay) I
CAUS(ative)
COMP(arative)
COND(itional)
COP(ula)
DAT(ive)
DIM(inutive)
FREO(uentat ive)
H.I. (high incidence)
IMP(erative)
INCH(oative)
IND(ependent)
INFINIT(ive)
INT(antional)
INTERR06(at ive)
ITER(ative)
LOC(ative)
NEB(ative)
NEB(ative) POT(ential)
NOM(inalizer)
NON-PAST
NON-PAST INCH(native)
0 (bject)
OBL(ique)
OPT(ative)
PAST
PAST INCH(oative)
PERF(ective)
POS(sessive)
POT(ential)
PRES(ent)
PREF(ix)
F'RIV (ative)
PRO(noun)
PUNC(tual)
REF(lexive)
REL(ativizer)
S(ubjectt)
STAT(ivizer)
SUF(fix)
USIT(ative)
V(erb) ,
I■ : j; ,;v;; SECTION ONE; GENERALITIES
I •sTi|S 11 :l-; ■
; : '|: I
I. ' ,, T,. '■■■l ’ •' i
; 1.;AIMS a n d :ORGANIZATION; OF THE RESEARCH
t ;■ ; ■! ■■ ;
■
This Jl research concerns War a o , a language isolate of
Wne'ziiera. Its goals ' are twofold: it offers a
typoiogicaliy-oriented referente grammar of the language, and
it.:also describes, on the grounds of sociolinguistic data, the
speech styles observed in.Warao. I have striven to make the
grammar j a s ’ .general as possible, covering as many topics as
possible; , in. a f ramework that is understandable and usable by
linguists of all theoretical persuasions. Additionally, I have
endeavoured to depict styles by considering language
structures that correlate with spatial, temporal and
referenbialtcontent factors, as well as social factors defined
on’ :'ithe ! basis of relations between, or among; speakers and
L T ‘..i !.!•.
hearers.1 t. .
: !
, 'll '• ’!• i I
. The . body; Of this work: is organised into two broad parts
corresponding to its two most general concerns. After SECTION
ONE •.. that provides generalities about the research and the
language, in the first part, consisting of SECTIONS TWO, THREE
and/j FOUR, I offer syntactic, morphological and phonological
features of* Warao. In the remaining part, consisting of
SECTION FIVE, I describe speech acts, participants roles and
styles detected in the language. For the purposes of handling
the contents, all throughout this investigation, SECTIONS have
been! divided into SUB-SECTIONS numbered correlatively from 1.
through''34.'Further Sub—diVisibns are included, also numbered
in, correspondence with that numeric entry identifying the
sub—section to which they are asbcribed.

| ;Z ? \ T H ^ ’WARAO PEOPLE ,• |
-! , ;j |
I will ; ' not attempt in this section to offer a deep
dembgraphiC; ‘and ethnographic analysis of the Warao: only
essential orienting information is provided.
i H-. ” 'l- ■; ir, ]■
, The,; Warao currently live in the swampy areas next to the
hundreds of caSos through;, which the Orinoco river flows into
th e ,.Atlantic Ocean. This is an extensive triangulai— shaped
jdeltaic j.zone of about 22,’500 square kilometers where several
War ala ^settlements . may be found within relatively short
'exploring journeys. As for present day papulation, the Warao
.consist of approximately 15,000 individuals. Mast of them are
bilingual in Warao and Spanish to varying degrees. Rather
few .!communities are dominantly monolingual in Warao. Usually
these ’are the most remote 'and difficult to reach, located next
to the Guyanese border. ’i, ’

; .The : etymology of the term Warao is wa 'canoe' and arao

'people', that is, 'canoe people’. In a euphemistic sense,
"sailor at heart" would be a suitable re-ferent far a Warao.
This is felt in the manner they address those who are not
Warao whom they call hotarao; hota high land", arao ’people",
i.e., 'high land people', or 'land lubbers’.

From a social-anthropological perspective, the Warao may be

considered as an "aquatic" fishing, hunting andd gathering
society. SuSrez (1971) provides ethnographical details of
relevance far this study. Borne aspects reported by SuSrez
(19715 deal with the Warao social and economic organization.
Any Warao settlement is composed of an extended family that
may have an average population of fifty individuals. Often a
household consists of a man, his wife and their unmarried
daughters and sons. The Warao practice matrilocal residence.
The traditional economy is mainly based on palm tree
by-products, though this system is losing importance.
Recently, as a consequence of the permanent presence of
missionaries and the papulation of Spanish descent the Warao
have become corn and rice growers, undergoing a strong process
of acculturation. The co—existence of the traditional and new
economies has brought about the transformation of the Warao
from fishermen, hunters and gatherers to wage-earning laborers
still living in their primeval environment.

3. DATA BASE OF THE STUDY

Insofar as passible, all data in the research are from

elicited material, though extended texts are used to fill in
certain gaps and to illustrate simple, completely
straight—forward forms. The field work sessions extended
over an eighteen—month period starting in September 19B7
and concluding by May 19B9. Further data was collected in
August 1993. A corpus recorded on thirty six 90—minute tapes
was collected. It took about six months to transcribe
phanologicalIy those portions of the recorded material
necessary for the research. The stage of data transcription
and analysis was completed early in 1990 and re-started for
new material in January 1995.

During the field work stage, with Lino palomo, a community

leader of Spanish descent from the State of Monsgas, I visited
thirteen Warao settlements along Cano Buha, including some
located in the Tigre, Winamorena and Wanakawaha islands. These
latter sites are all in Cano Manama— a major waterway that
marks the borderline between the states of Monagas and Delta
flmacura. I chose San Jos6 de Buha, a small town about a
90-minute drive from Maturln, as the center of my operations
in the area. This was a strategic place given that San Jose de
Buha is a location midway between Maturin (a major urban
center and state capital, where the Universidad de Oriente— my
employer institution— has one of its campuses) and the Warao
motherland. From San Jos# de Buha, 1 frequently travelled by

2
 outboard boat to the informants' places. It must be mentioned
1 that I visited San Jos6 de Buha eleven times during the data
: collection stage, my longest stay being of fourteen days
[ during the Easter break of 1989.
> •
; ;An important ‘esperiercE relates to my work in Winamorena, On
I this island, I visited a settlement where the orikaika
I oriwarao 'community made u p :of by an extended family'— the
i Warao primal manner of social grouping— still survives. I
; collected there a variety of speech acts including
] stor-y—tel1ing about ancestors'as well as mythical characters.
I Also,. I recorded data about how the Warao conduct collective
I discussion to solve community problems, advice to reach
j settlements in the event of dispute and other specific social
; and linguistic performances. Finally, in Wanakawaha, I had the
f opportunity to be close to a place where a rite would be
| performed by the wi si ratu, a religious power—endowed
! personage, thatdirect the cult of the spirits. I observed
I some of his actions, but I was unable to get recordings or
! even details of his gestures because I was not allowed inside
■ the;dwelling of the sick he was curing.

| Data collection around Cano.Buha and Cano Manama revitalized

j the information about the language revealed by my previous
material recorded in Hurupu, in the State of Sucre in 1979,
arid Yakariyene, State of Delta fimaoira in 1933. These two
places where I collected data in 1979 and 1983 are located
abotit 150 kilometers in a straight line from Buha, to the
north and southeast respectively. I have confirmed my
hypothesis that there are not dialectal variants of Warao,
though 1 rather think that there are some lexical differences
that d o .not cons:derably affect mutual intelligibility.

As for the use of extended texts, these are either from

Barral (1964) or from Vaquero (1965). Textual data from these
missionaries are primarily from the Central Orinoco Delta.
Mast of these texts comprise ancestral stories and myths,
although there are some conversational samples mainly of a
procedural nature. In this research, examples taken from these
authors appear together with their bibliographical source.

4. METHODOLOGY FOR DATA COLLECTIONI

I followed the methodological procedures that search for

verbal acts in natural context (Labov, 1972), one of the
principles of participant observation techniques (Pelto &
Pelto, 1983). On no occasion was the data ellicited by using
interview schedules or written instruments of any sort. In
this type of society, such instruments might bring about
inadequate responses causing in turn mistaken analysis due
mainly to the fact that the social norms and values of these
groups can only be understood by foreigners after very lengthy
periods spent, living in the community. In my case, I decided

3
that by the time this acquaintance with the Warao would
have become a reality, I would have learned whatever I was
interested in as far as my research was concerned withjhe
help of a guide. Thus, I preferred to integrate myself into
the community through a Warao that could take me to the right
informant in the right place at the right time. It should 'be
remembered that my stays in the Warao social contect did not
last bevand two consecutive weeks.
i
ftt the beginning, I tried to be as discreet as possible,
taking great care about what I said and did. Soon,, I
internalize some elementary rules for group activities and the
Warao started to guide me through their social life. They
taught me internal aspects of their ways of living, and sjiep
by step, X could gradually discover some links between social
conduct and language usage. This was the stage of my field
work when the sociolinguistic framework I had set up a priori
for the dissertation began to operate smoothly. Penetrating
into the Warao mind was not an easy task anyway, and I jam
still not certai-n that I was able to enter such unespected knd
unimaginable world. I mention this point because any time that
I turned on my tape recorder, even in situations in which, I
had learned such an action would be permissible, the faces (of
my interlocutors might equally reveal consent or disapproval,
often changing their attitude from one day to the next.j A
final remark on this point is that, in my own interpretation
of the facts, my data contain language quite similar to that
one that would have been spoken in my absence. I cannot
discard the fact that some interference may have been brought
about by the tape recorder, and even by myself, since both jof
these elements were completely alien in the Warao daily
routines. !

5. TRANSCRIPTION AND MORPHOPHONEMICS j

The following conventions are observed in presenting ! my

Warao examples. Three lines of information appear with most
examples in the body of the paper: ii) a morphemic
representation giving the underlying forms of all the
morphemes and the boundaries between them, Cii) ' a
morpheme—by—morpheme English gloss, and (iii) an appropriate,
rather free, English translation. In this system , of
representation, common recurring morphemes are given
abbreviated glasses indicated in uppei— case letters. A list- of
these abbreviations is found in the introductory pages of this
research. It must be emphasized that the morpheme glosses are
intended for helping the reader to understand the structure or
usage, either in isolation or contextually. It is worth
mentioning as well that when examples are intended for
presenting the referential content that characterizes some
styles, the morpheme-by-morpheme English glosses are avoided,
and an almost literal translation is included. |

4
’t.
■SI' The transcription of the material is based upon the
jnteiqnational i phonetic Alphabet, and in those cases in which
the exemplification taken .,from another author appears in
a Spanish-based orthographic .representation, the symbols c and
g u ' fiave been replaced by /k/. Similarly, the Spanish s has
been rendered as /h/ in my study!

SECTION TWO: SYNTAX

6. ORDER OF CONSTITUENTS INiTHE BASIC SIMPLEX SENTENCE

| :s, (Ramero-Figueroa, 1985a) (,
i .V: " -i.-l 'i i
'.
; I will begin with the hypothesis of an OSV basic order in
Haraa. , In all cases, intransitive V(erbs) in blarao are
sentence final:

> INTRANSITIVE
(1) a.' ma— 1 rahe hay a ■-te
lpl.POS brother run 1 NON-PAST
9 'My brother runs’

b..hua • haka —komo nak i—a —e

. Juan) run POT fall i PUNC PAST
'John could fall'

Nhen ! O(bjects) and non—major, constituents such as

•interjections are present, V i s overwhelmingly sentence final.
Occasibrialiy, 1 some QBL(iques) and interjections fallow V.
These leases are discussed later; Some examples of sentences
with OVs are: ’

, TRANSITIVE OS (ub ject) V.,

(2) erik.e hube abu -a i—e
! Enrique snake bite PUNC ; PAST
; ! 'A snake bit Henry’

(TRANSITIVE) ;DAT(ive) OSV

<~) ma<: 1 saba tamaha rieko 1ribu -a -e
lsg.O DAT this one Diego say PUNC PAST
'Diego said this to me'
t.i,
i OBL OSV ;
(4) m a , <\ hanoko -mo m e nao -te
lsg.POS house ABL I come NON-PAST
'Iicome from my home’ 1

The above examples show that Warao is solidly verb final,

and 1 that ithe entity affected, effected or moved within the
Warao sentence precedes the agent. In discussing the syntax of
i »i ;i. : ■< '
the sentence in Warao, Vaquero <1965:143) presents the
-fallowing 'scheme af progressive construction' in the
language:

SV
(5) a. ine obono -ya
I want PRES
'I want'

OSV
b. arukobo ine obona —ya
manioc I want PRES
'I want manioc'

OOSV
c. noboto —mo saba arukobo ine obono —ya 1
child PL DAT manioc I want PRES
'I want manioc -for the children’

OOOSV
d. hanakosebe a nobota -mo saba arukobo ine
village o-f child PL DAT manioc I

obono —ya
want PRES
'I want maniac far the children of the village'

From his scheme in <5a-d), Vaquero <1965:143) concludes

that: " <en Warao), el tormina de la accitbn goza de prioridad
mental <-..) Inmediatamente se aclara la predicacibn <..„) que
realizarA el sujeto".

Further evidence for OSV order is also provided by

quotatives in my own data:

QUOTATIVE OSV
<6) a. ine namina -naka ta —bu —te ma— rani
I know NEB AUX ITER NON-PAST lsg-POS mother

ribu -n -a -e
say sg PUNC PAST
'"I really do not know", I said to my mother'

b. tira wab —a -e tatuma anibaka

woman die PUNC PAST them young girl

ribu -n —a —e
say sg PUNC PAST
"The woman died", the young girl said to them’

Quotative sentences such as those in <6) suggest that the

order of constituents in some cample* sentences is not
different from that in simplex sentences.

So far, basic OSV order for Warao has been exemplified in

6
each of the major sentence types. However, structural
arrangements different from OSV are often found in the
language. It is common in WaraD discourse to leave out P ’s
whose referents have been set' up earlier. Since the person of
the object of transitive verbs may be marked in the verb,
transitive.. sentences occur frequently with the verb and the
subject; only. For example, (B) below

TRANSITIVE OSV
(B) ma hi rakoi ahi -a —e
lsg.O 2sg.POS sister hit ! PUNC PAST
'Your sister hit me’

may be reduced as in:

TRANSITIVE SV
! (9) 0 hi rakoi m— ahi —a -e
; ! :‘ 2sg.P0S sister lsg.Q hit PUNC PAST
( : 'Your sister hit me'

On the other hand, copulative sentences in Warao nearly

always are subject initial, showing mostly
S—COMP(lement)—CPF' (ula) order. Further, ha —kitane ‘BE/HAVE
— INFINIT.’, the form denoting ‘COP’ may be deleted giving rise
to S-CQMP order. The examples below illustrate the case:

COPULATIVE S-COMP-COP
<1Q) a. tai tira burebaka ha
i that;woman insane COP
’That woman is insane’

COPULATIVE S-COMP
b. tai tira burebaka O
that woman insane
1 ’That woman (is) insane’

Different from 0 and COP which, as shown, may not explicitly

appear in the Warao sentence, B tends to be expressed. This is
so ;because the WaraD verb is unmarked for subject agreement;
hence, subjects need to be present to avoid ambiguities and
misunderstandings. A subjectless sentence such as (lib) below
is exclusively motivated by the discourse environment: (lib)
ohviously reflects a short answer to a question:

(11) a. Q: ihi ma kaika nao —nak.a —ra

2sg.S lsg.O with come NEG INTERROB
’Don’t you come with me?’

b. A: 0 nao —naka
come NEG
’ (I) do not come’

7
 1

The process illustrated by til) above involves a principle

of economy of words which operates in languages wherever the
logic of conversational sequences allows no possible confusion
1
From the review of (1-10), the facts of imnportance about
Warao word order are: ti > V is final, (ii) S nearly always
immediately precedes V, and (iii) D mostly occurs in sentence
initial position. Ahead in this Section, the rules that permit
variations from the basic QSV order are discussed and
explained. I

7. VERBAL SENTENCES ■
l
All Warao verbs have subjects, although they may, or may
not, attract other constituents, such as objects, subject
complements and adjuncts. !
!■
7.1. Subject j

Warao subjects range from single nouns/pronouns to long noun

strings froming complex noun phrases. The pair in (12) clearly
illustrates the point: j

(12) a. ka saba arao —tuma a 1

lpl.D DAT individual PL of

tama ho bahi yak -era |

this water surroundings goodness AUGM t
!
ta -n -a -e
help sg PUNCT PAST j
'The inhabitants of this land helped us' |

b. ka saba wauta yak -era ■

lpl.O DAT Wauta goodness AUGM I

ta -n —a —e j
help sg PUNC PAST i
'Wauta helped us' !

(12a) exhibits the complex noun phrase araotuma tama hobahi

'The inhabitants of this land’ which contrast in length with
the proper noun wauta 'Wauta' seen in (12b), both filling in
subject slots.
i
Subjects in Warao lack morphological devices that allow
their identification; for instance, they are not case-marked.
This feature coupled with the fact that Waran is a verb final
language in which the remaining sentence constituents (both
subject and objects) usually precede, make subjects very
resistant to deletion. It might be expected that overt
subjects contribute to preserve meaning. Subjects normally
express the agent of the action, if there is one. This

8
 j t -,i- . , '
i . y ;i r. ‘ !: ‘ii 1
property' however -is not used here to identity subjects ot
sentences in which there ishoagent.Though I am aware that
expressing 1 the agent is■!notsutticient condition ot
sub jecthobd1
, in' my analysis, I use ’agency’ or ’agent’ with
reference' /to 'subjecthood in'sentences other than those
containing fetative verbs. t 1

, 7.2. Direct object

Dependingj on the occurrence or non-occurrence of direct

objects', verbs : may respectively be transitive or
intransitive. Although the Marao verbs are either of one kind
or jthe, other, their inflectional behavior overrides such a
distinction1, so' that no different sets of markers to
operate: in! transitive or intransitive contexts exist. Warao
hasi only*'one set of markers for irerb aspect/tense, mood and
number.1' 1i ; "■ f

Direct objects are seen in.this study as semantically

patient;, in the sense that they mean ” (a) the entities which
are^ viewed as affected by the action of the verb; (b) the
entities which are viewed as moving or as being located in
(abstract* .Or concrete) space; or. (c) the entities which are
viewed as existing, in a state” (Starosta, 1973:472).

( Like-i; subjects", direct objects are not identifiable from

their l("morphology because they are not case-marked either. It
is ilikely that because of such' a trait (also found in
subjects), /direct objects are ias deletion resistant as
subjects. j If , deleted, that will occur where they are
easily-recovered from the context!.
# l , M u ■•l'- 'l-- •>' 1 ’!' !
/Direct; objects are obligatory in transitives, whether
overtly;expressed or prefixed to verbs, such as illustrated in
(i3>' ;;!1 ^

(13) a. ka hi— rakoi teoriasi -te

t ' ;.i • lp l.D sister disdain
7 ;;g .P D y NON—P A ST
i " “Your sister disdains u s ’

,b. O , hi— rakoi, ka- teoriasi —te

i jr ' 2sg.P(lS sister lpl.O disdain NON-PAST
iYour sister disdains us’
! I ' 5 .1 ;
! i'- :-i ■ 't.
7.3. Indirect object

There’' is! a [separate category which functions as indirect

object.:1 The indirect object correlates with the dative case
rale, beinglexpressed b y t h e suffixes — (i)si/—to/— (m)a/ ’DAT’.
— (i)si 'Dati' indicates beneficiary, —to ’DAT’ also indicating
beneficiary;, is rather infrequent. — (m) a ’DAT’ has benef active
meaning,; with ’local ’ overtones in . some specific contexts.
Furthermore,! 'the . indirect abject can be defined as a
postpositional] phrase introduced,by saba ’to/for'. Examples
t are!shown in (14) below
j. ,J, ! ‘l •: 1
 (14) a. ma -isi aru nisa -u
lsg.Q DAT cassava buy 2sg.IMP
'You, buy cassava for me!'

b. nobotama -to dihab -era ine kona —te

children DAT sweet AUGM I bring NON-PAST
'I bring candies for the children'

c. harako -ma daukuaha tai kona -n -a -e

hunting DAT fruit he bring sg PUNC PAST
journey ,
'I brought some fruits for the hunting journey'

d. ure yaotamo saba bare kona —n -a -e

malanga workers to father bring sg PUNC PAST
(priest)
'The father brought malanga to the workers'

7.4. Oblique abject (or adjunct)

The remaining arguments kaken by Ularao verbs give shape ,to

the oblique objects, also referred in this studyy as adjuncts.
Adjuncts are integrated into the structure of the sentence
being affected by such processes as negation and questioning,
keeping with verbs the same kind of relationship whatever
their underlying semantic roles might be. Such roles include
manner, locative, time, instrumental, comitative, source,
possessive, benefactive and cause. These meanings may be
expressed by (i) simple and compound (derived) adverbs and
adverbials, which are normally denominal, denoting manner,
place and time, and (ii) postpositional phrases expressing
placement and location in time, as well as possession,
benefactive, origin and some other meanings. Obliques or
adjuncts are exhaustively described and exemplified in 24. and
25.

8. COPULATIVE SENTENCES

ha 'COP' in Warao never functions as an existential. Thus,

it may be drawn that copulatives are quite limited in their
semantic scape. The copula, ha 'COP' has three well-defined
predicative functions: (i) equative, expressing the
identification of one entity with another, (ii) attributive,
characterizing entities, and (iii) adverbial, denoting time
and place. In all of these three functions, ha. 'COP' is a link
between the subject and the predicate. Throughout this study,
predicates in copulative sentences are handled with in two
ways: (i) as subject complements when employed in relation to
nominal items (nouns and attribute nouns, also called here
adjective—like attributives), which is the case with equative

10
and attributive predicates, and (ii) as adjuncts when employed
in relation to time and place expressions, which is the case
with adverbial, predicates, Examples of the types of copulative
sentences in Warao are presented in (15):

EQUATIVE
(15) a. ine warab ha yatu hotarao 0
• I Warao COP you non-warao
'I am Warao (and) you (are) non—Warao (or criollo)1

ATTRIBUTIVE
b. tama, —ha hoko , ha
this NOM shade of any COP
light color
(lit.) 'This one is light-colored', or
‘This one has a light color', or
'This one is white'

ADVERBIAL
TIME
.c. ine kura warao isaka ha
I The Pleiads Warao one COP
(annual path) (twenty)
'I am twenty years old'

PLACE
d. mahoka ayakata ama —te ha
cattish school ot that yonder LOG COP
tish
(lit.) 'The school ot cattish is (in) over there’

The copula ha may be deleted it its coreterent is in an

immediate preceding utterance, as shown in (15a). It intlects
only for past tense:

ine ma— omu a namo ha

I lsg-POS foot of caver COP
'I have my shoes'

ine ma­ □mu a namo ha —e

I ilsg. POS -foot of cover COP PAST
’I had my shoes'

9. STATIVE SENTENCES

The suffix -ira 'STAT' attached to attribute nouns turn them

into stative verbs meaning 'be in the state of*. Sentences
containing denominal stative verbs are objectless, denoting a
permanent or temporary state in which the subject (animate or
inanimate) is a patient—of-state, such as in the following

II
 ]
i
examples:

(17) a. waraa -tuma ta -era -ira -te

Uaran PL stregth AUGM STAT NON—PAST
'The Waraa are very strong permanently'

b. tira san -uk -ir -a -e

woman pitiness DIM STAT PUNC PAST
'The woman was sad temporarily’

c. karina to —ira —te

hen fatness STAT NON-PAST
'The hen is fat'

d. hiaka sara —ir —a -e

garment rag STAT PUNC PAST
'The garment was ragged'

10. COMPLEX STRUCTURES j

10.1. Parataxis 1
t
The most common way offorming complex structures in
subject, object and oblique roles appears to be by parataxis.
Also, parataxis is observed in some complex sentences in which
two or more clauses are simply juxtaposed, with no indication
of the temporal, spatial, causal, or whatever, relationship
between them.
; <■
f i,
10.1.1. Paratactical phrases j
Paratactical phrases are structures containing 2 (or more)
non-conjoined references to the same entity, or containing 2
(or more) references to the same entity (or to different
ones), conjoined without coordinating conjunctions. Against
this background, there have been specified for Warao, the
fallowing functions of phrasal parataxis:
identification/modification and coordination. !

As in most languages, the introduction of new characters in

Warao discourse often brings about supplementary information
concerning them, which serve identifying (and modifying)
functions:
I
(IB) ama u kuabasa rarihabita ka— unukamo ,
then Kuabasa enemy lpl.POS goods

nisa -n -a -e
steal sg PUNC PAST J
'kuabasa, an enemy, stole our goods' '

12
 v In (IB), the noun phrase rarihabita 'enemy' modifies the
proper- noun: kuabasa. enhancing the identity of the bearer of
sUch name. The following example in (19) illustrates the
i-e coordinatinq'function of parataxis. In (19), a series of three
paratac/tical j elements suggestsi conjoining in the absence of
; conjunctipns: ; , ,

| . !-. t,'j. ; ’ i
(19) okp ramiano mokomoko f hi kaika
we Damian little children 2sg.O with
i. ; C |

nao -kitane obano —bu 1—te

come 'INFINIT want 1ITER NON-PAST
is,,’.;; ij'We, !Damian (and) the kids really want to come with
4 you' :

33 )■ l'| 1 . 1:.'> l' ■ ■ ' 1 j

10.1.2. F'aratactical clauses ,

10.1.2.1. Coordination T

fts •;it was already pointed out, there is no formal means in

the language for expressing coordination at the phrase level;
i.e. , simple equivalents ofii’and' , 'but', 'or', 'yet', etc.,
1 are- inexintent. It also occurs thus at the clausal level.
1 j ' -1 ’ ;
! jClausal^ ;coordination always involves 2 (or more)
par at iactic al1y—r elated finite ! (or tensed) clauses. In the
language,; there seems to be three kinds of clausal
coordination: (i) conjunction, (ii) adversative junction and
(iii)11 disjunction (this third kind seems to frame upon the
Spanish' model, or it was a late development).
■J! t ; M .I' h . ' - !

10.1.2. |1.1. Clausal conjunction

.Clausal! conjunction takes place when referents in subject

and/or object roles within two paratactical1y-related clauses
do not change, making possible reduction in one of them. Even
when the1 two clauses may keep:all their constituents— in a
sort of full coordinate sentence— such as

j (20) o s i b u 1,, h o s e i t o yaba -n -a —e teka tai

I ..'i ,mo‘rokDto Joseito fish =g PUNC PAST peccary he
i i a (kind of (Joe)
fish)
1

131
 kub -a —e
hunt PUNC PAST
'Joe fished morokoto (and) he hunted peccary',

it is likely that repeated subjects and/or objects undergo

ellipsis, such as illustrated in (21)

(21) osibu hoseito yaba -n -a —e teko 0

morokoto Joseito fish sg PUNC PAST peccary
(kind of (Joe)
fish)

kub -a -e
hunt PUNC PAST
'Joe fished morokoto (and) (he) hunted peccary’

Another example of clausal conjunction is offered in (22)

(22) aru tai kona -n -a -e hi sab -a —e

manioc he bring sg F'UNC PAST cook PUNC PAST
’He brought manioc (and) (he) cooked (manioc)’

10.1.2.1.2. Clausal adversative junction

Paratactical clauses may also suggest an adversative

linkage. Adversative coordination is normally encoded by
negating one of the clauses within the sentence. This is often
the case in Warao, as illustrated in (23)

(23) a. tai ine hahobu —bu -a —e mi -naka

3sg.O I search for ITER PUNC PAST see NEG
’I searched for him repeatedly (but) (I did) not see
(him)’

b. warao ekoro —naka —te musimo ekoro

Warao finish NEG NON-PAST Carib people finish
(lit.) ’The Warao do not finish (but) the Caribs
finish’, or
'The Carib are terminated, but the Warao are not’

There are also instances of antithetical adversative

junction in which apposite lexical meaning (in the absence of
the negation marker —naka ’NEG’) is sufficient to express
adverseness:

14
 (24) tama -tika -mo sanuka tai mi -na —te
| this LOC AEL smallness it see sg NOW—PAST

! ama —tika —me irira

that yonder LOG ABL bigness
' ’It; looks small -from right here, (but) (it looks) big
j, from right over there’

10.1.2.1.3. Clause disjunction

. 1 ' ■: ■
Disjunction conveys the idea of exclusion. In Waraa, the
logics of discourse is the only resource to be used for
determining which clause content excludes the other one.
Disjunction seems not to be well integrated in the
interclausal relations of the language. Warao—Spanish
bilingual speakers who know the use of the Spanish
disjunctive: coordinates frequently express doubts about the
appropriatness of examples when asked to attest them. They
sometimes frame their disjunctive coordinates upon the Spanish
framework incorporating o ’o r ’ to their native utterance. The
best example collected in my data is presented in (25) below

! , (25) yatu nao -te nao —naka ta -te —ra

I you come NON-PAST come NEB AUX NON-PAST INTERROG
J ; . (lit.) 'Don’t you come (or) you do?’, or
J ’Do you come (or) you do not?’
! ■:
: 10.1.2.2. Comparison (Romero—Figueroa, 1986a)

! In Warao the grammatical class involved in comparison is

j that of the attributive nouns. Examples are given in (26)
j below

(26) a. basayanaru tobe ta —era kuarika ha

ant-eater jaguar strength AUGM more COP
’The jaguar is stronger than the ant-eater*

b. ihi kubatu yak —era hoseito yahoto

you hunter goodness AUGM Jaseito less
(Joe)
’You are a good hunter. Joe is a less good
hunter’

c. hua ma raka irira manuka ha

Juan lsg.POS brother bigness same COP
’My brother and John are the same height’

d. nebu yak -era yapt —a —e nobotomo

young men bigness AUGM work PUNC PAST children

15
 manuka
same (equal) i
'The children and the young men worked equally.,
wel1 ’, or j
'The children worked as well as the young men',(or
'The young men worked as well as the children'

(26a-c) are cases of attributive noun (adjective-like)

comparison. (26d) is a case of an attribute noun functioning
as an adverb.

Structurally speaking, nominal (label covering denominal

adjective—like nouns and adverb—functioning nouns)
comparatives in Warao consist of two sentences holding a
paratactical relation, one containing the standard, of
comparison and the other containing the topic of comparison.
Some constituents which are repeated in the standard and topic
clauses, that is to say, that are common to both, are often
deleted, and the remaining are joined together to give rise to
an elliptical comparative sentence. Thus, at a level below the
surface, for example, (26b) and (26d) would respectively ;have
syntactic configurations as follows in (27a0 and (27b): ;
I

(27) a. Cihi kubatu yak —era ha 3 Choseito kubatu

you hunter bigness AUGM COP Joseito hunter
(Joe)

yak -era yahoto ha 3

bigness AUGM less COP !
'You are a good hunter. Joe is a less good hunter'

b. Cnebu yak —era yaot —a —e 3 Cnobotomo

young men bigness AUGM work. PUNC PAST children

yak —era manuka yaot —a —e 3 i

bigness AUGM same work PUNC PAST j
'The young men worked well. Children worked equally
wel1', or
'The children worked as well as the young men',! or
'The young men worked as well as the children"

Reduction of constituents (ellipsis) in standard and -topic

clauses, or in both, in (27a) and (27b), shown respectively in
(2Ba) and (28b) below ;

16
 (28) a. Hihi kubatu yak —era 0 3 Chosei to
you* hunter goadn AI.JCM Joseita
.S.,:|j 'li (Joe)
yaHoto 03 i
(» f ;■; less ill
'ill i ‘You, are a good hunteif. Joe is a less good hunter'

SI
uii.; t,
Cnebu yak ■ -era yaot -a
: young men goodness AlllGM work PUNC PAST
t. ' Cnobotomo 0 monuka 03
children same
" 'M i III ‘‘The young: men worked well. The children worked
equally wel1 ’, or i:
'The children worked as well as the young men', or
-ii : 'The, young men workedjas well as the children'
S i i M.
.. i ' » Vi i.i .fi !■ ]
.On the other hand, -from the review o-f (26-28), some -facts of
importance about the Warao comparatives are: (i) the language
uses analytical comparison'exclusively, and (ii) it lacks an
element that 'may be considered to have the status of a
"complementizer". Related to '(ii), in the absence of a
;"d:ompiemehtiZer"-like element,ino alternative mechanism such
as case—marking of the standard Iof comparison is used.

It j(is .clear from (26) that the language has asymmetrical

comparison of inequality, (A>B, and A<B). klarao also has
comparison of equality, (A-B). The data, by means of
arrangements .such as the-: one in (26d) demonstrates the
possibility 'of asymmetrical equality. However, the data
indicates!that symmetrical equality (AB=) (similar to English
’same/equal/like/alike') is prevalent in the language. The
strongest! indicator of symmetrical equality is the kind of
relationship ti holding between the topic of comparison and the
standard of comparison in casesIsuch as (29), far example:

(29) tama —ha , raisa monuka ha

: this iNOM other same i COP
) 'The other! and this one are the same', or
> 'This and the other are the same'

Y t Ina (29), t t h e topic of'comparison and the standard of

comparison keep a figure/figure relation rather than a
figure/background one.
.}. , .<(
.Also,, from (26—29), it might be said that in Uarao,
comparison is expressed by postposing to atributive nouns some
•!.quantity jdeterminers, such as Ikuarika 'more' and sabuka or
- valioto 'iess' in the c a s e ’of inequality, and the adverb of
manner..monuka 'same/equal'j' in.the case of equality.

17
 At this point of the analysis, it is worth noting that all
Warao comparatives arrange the standards o-f comparison before
the topics of comparison, and these before the marker iof
comparison that is part of the verbal core, which is the
positional relationship to be held since the language is OSV.
These comparatives prove affirmative my QSV order hypothesis
for Warao.

10.2. Hypotaxis (Embedding)

In Warao, there are also hypotactical complex constructions

involving verb suffixes associated with aspect/tense Ias
markers of such hypotactical relation, which is commonplace,in
verb-final languages. Besides, the linkage between the higher
clause and the embedded one may be expressed by means of
clause-initial free items, often postpositions, in the manner
of complementizers. To account for embedding, such a process
in non-finite clauses is examined first; then, the one in
finite clauses is examined.

10.2.1. Nan—finite clauses

10.2.1.1. Nominal (infinitival) clauses

Some nominal constructions derived from underlying verbs

constitute the nearest equivalent to noun clauses. In Warao,
these are exclusively infinitival, and they serve as
complements of verbs. When a verbal complement has the same
subject as the main clause, this is nominalized with the
suffix -kitane 'INFINIT' and placed next to the main verb thus
disrupting the sequence of constituents of the main clause.
Infinitival clauses tend to be rather short, mostly occurring
as objects. Borne examples are offered in (30-31)

(30) tukubita —ya tai hiaka

Tucupita ALL he garment

nisa —kitane naru -na —te

buy INFINIT go sg NON-PAST
'He/she goes to Tucupita to buy garments'

(31) ine ure buha -kitane nao -a -e

I malanga dig out INFINIT come PUNC PAST
'I came to dig out malanga'

In (30), for instance, hiaka nisakitane 'to buy garments’ is

18
an !infinitival clause in the rale of object complement
embedded! in the main verb narunate ’g o ’* thus breaking into
two halves the main clause tukubitava tai narunate 'He/she
goes; ,tos Tucupita’. Analogous behavior is observed between the
infinitival; clause ure buhakitane 'to dig out malanga' and
the,main clause ine naonae 'I came' in (31).

10.2.2. Finite clauses

10. 2.2.1 .j Adverbial clauses

i Vi : i
Adverbial^ clauses may be introduced by verbal markers
associated with aspect/mood, frequently depending on the main
clause for the expression of tense. They are often non—tensed
clauses that acquire time reference from their main clauses
(both clauses, the embedded and the main ones, must share
identical temporality). As well, adverbial clauses may have
initial free items acting as complementizers. This kind of
adverbial clauses have tense of their own, that is, their
temporal reference may, or may not, be identical with that of
the* main clauses. One more possibility as far as how the main
clause and the embedded one connect is the absolute lack of
indication of the hypotactical relation holding between them.

In this analysis, 6 different types of adverbial clauses are

accounted , for: conditional/temporal, concessive, causal,
purpose and quotative.

10.2.2.1.1. Condi tional/temparal clauses

Conditional/temporal clauses suffix -kore ’CQND' to the verb

of the embedded clause, -kore 'COND’ is primary a verbal mood
marker that may convey senses such as 'if/when'. Conditional
clauses do not exhibit overt time reference, which is normally
taken from the main clause:

(32) waniku simo naha ebo -kore ehobo -na -te

moon any shade rain fall COND show up sg NON-PAST
of a dark
color
(lit.) 'The moon shows up reddish when rain falls’, or
'The moon becomes red when it rains'

(33) obono -kore nar —u

want COND go 2sg.IMP
'You, go if you want!’
 I:

(32—33) Evidence that conditional/temporal clauses tend, to

embed directly in the main verb, splitting the main clause.
However, there are instances of pre—clausal embedding, such as
exemplified below:

(34) bare inataba -tore ama hase ine naru -kuna j

father order CDND right now I go INCH. PRES
(priest)
'If the father orders (it) , I begin to go right n ow’1

10.2.2.1.2. Concessive clauses

i
Another type of complex sentences refers to situations
signalling the unexpected, surprising nature of what is being
said in view of what was said before:

(35) a. yak -era haka —n -a —e arone tama —ha

goodness AUBM run sg RUNG PAST although this NOM
i
kuari ka ta —n -a —e
more strengthen sg PUNC PAST
"Although he ran well, this one (was) stronger’, lor
"This one defeated him, in running" i

b. warao ekira mi —komoni ta —n —a —e arone

Warao no see NEB. POT AUX sg PUNC PAST although

ama —tika —ya ine naba —te !

this LOC ALL I arrive NON-PAST l
"I arrived in right over there, although I could:not
see any Warao' I

Concessive clauses are introduced by the complementizer

arone "although" which locates the situation referred to, by
the main clause as subsequent to the situation referred to' by
the embedded clause.

10.2.2.1.3. Causal clauses

Causal clauses are introduced by kuare "as/since":

(36) a. ma- rima kohota -bu -a -e kuare tane

lsg.POS mother advise ITER PUNC PAST as thusj

ine nan -a -e ■
I da PUNC PAST ‘
"As my father advised (it), I did (it) so" I

I
20
 1 ' '! !t,

y. | :1-=ijil3i ka- '"'4; hobahi yak !' —era mi -a —e kuare

,s f i
! '> isg.POS land' beacity AUGM see PUNC PAST as

t \ "i ,warao>-tuma kuai i -mo nanaka -n -a -e

,:j;i f( War so. PL up there ABL come down sg PUNC PAST
i | ;jj....jj !., l The Warao came down -from up there as (they) saw a
4 • i; ji very beautiful land' |

1 The’ Situation designated bv kuare 'as/since' always overlaps

temporally, wjith the situation in the main clause.
Nevertheless, "in such cases, the embedded (or dependent)
situation ^begins prior to the beginning of the situation of
the main clause^ as all the examples in (36) shows.
4; I -;,V - !
4; I ,
1(j, ^0Jj2i2i 1.4. purpose clauses;

In Waraoipurpose clauses, the complementizer mioroi roughly

means "in order that’:

(37)iwaba -naka —mioroi ! kokotuka ine

1 die1 NEG .in order that !everything I

nahoro -te j.
.eat| . ' NUN-PART
’I eat everything in order that I do not die*

Further, the purpose sentencejmay express a putative idea,

related to'volitional performances:
!f * ' i ' : ' '
, , ’ ; > d-.;!-: f 1
(3B) lea-1 • asiraha iiebere <- —mioroi yak -era
{ lplJPDS evil get rid of in order that goodness AUGM

j. okainoha —te
we ;jd o . NON-PAST j
’We.should do well in order that we get rid of evil’

i . - i ■> .}■<■ ;
10.‘2.2: 1J5- Duotative clauses

Tjhese are not different from main independent clauses. The

embedded quotation always precedes the main clause. The main
clause must contain a verb of saying. There is no indicator of
the hypotattical relation holding between the main clause and
the embedded one. Both clauses are independent as far as time
reference is concerned:
.1. I :') ■' J 1.: !' !

21
 (39) hokohi sara waniku wab —a —e warao ribu —te
at dawn moon die PUNC PAST Marao say NON-PAST
'The Maraa say "The moon dies at dawn"'

11. QUESTIONS

Questioning in Uarao involves the obligatory suffixing of

the verbal interrogative marker —ra 'INTERROG' . This is •- a
closing suffix within any chain Qf inflectional morphemes
attached to any main verb (verbs in embedded clauses do not
question mark). For example

(40) noboto yahinoto —ya tobe yawar —a —e —ra

child burrow ALL jaguar pull PUNC PAST INTERROG
(myth.) 'Did the jaguar pull the child to its burrow?'

However, —ra ’INTERROG’ cannot be directly attached after

the negation marker -naka 'NEG' as well as same mood markers
that break the verbal inflection string. In those cases, —ra
'INTERROG' is added to the auxiliary ta 'AUX', which is a
locus for tense, aspect and questioning, under specific
conditions. An example is presented in (41) below

(41) naba muhoko tatuma waba -komoni

river side of they die NEG.POT

t —a ■ —e -ra
AUX PUNC PAST INTERROG
'Couldn’t they die on that side of the river?’

-ra 'INTERROG' must be present in those contexts

corresponding to the following two types of questions: (i)
yes/no questions, and (ii) question—word questions. Rising
intonation is associated with questioning. This matter has not
been sufficiently explored by the author though.

11.1. Yes/no questions

Warao marks yes/no questions with the sentence—final verb

suffix —ra ’INTERROG’ in the absence of constituent order
change from declarative. Yes/no questions are normally
neutral; i.e.,
l .e. their marker and arrangement do not lead to

22
negative or Iaffirmative answers. For example:

(42) tama•—te —a osibu ,yaba —n —a —e —ra

this, LOC LOC morokoto Fish sg PUNC PAST INTERRQG
(kind of
i' , Fish)
. , ‘Did'you Fish any morocotos (in) around here?’

(42) m a y 1 be equally answered negatively or aFFirmatively

depending Upon the results aF the action or the judgement oF
t h e ‘actor. However, Further modiFication brought about by the
negative marker -naka 'NEG' may signal a leading question, as
shown ,in ,(43) >

(43) hi- rima. naa -naka ta -te -ra

1 2sg.PDS Father come NEG AUX NGN-PAST INTERROB
1 (lit.) ’Doesn’t your Father come?’, or
' ’Your-Father doesn’t come, does he?’

(435 expresses the speaker's doubt about the attendance oF

that particular Father, which suggests that the expected
answer is,negative.

11,2. Question-word questions

Information questions are Formed with the use of

sentence-initial interrogative pronouns co-occurring with the
sentence Final interrogative marker -ra ’INTERROG’.
Interrogative pronouns are obligatorily sentence—initial in
Warao questions.

Warao has only one general question word, sina 'who', which
substitutes For animates; and one, kasikaha ’what’, which
substitutes For inanimates. Some examples are oFFered in (44)

(44) a. sina ma- yehe —bu —te —ra

who lsg.O call ITER NGN-PAST INTERROG
'Who calls me repeatedly?'

b. sina saba hi— harako mo —n —a —e —ra

who DAT 2sg.G hunt give sg PUNC PAST INTERRQG
'To whom did he give his hunt?'

c. sina aisiko aka naru —te —ra

who with we go NON-PAST INTERRQG
'With whom do/will we go?'

23
 d. kasikaha yatu ribu —a -e —ra
what you say PUNC PAST XNTERROG
'What did you say?’

e. kasikaha eriha —n -a -e -ra

what sink sg PUNC PAST INTERRDG
'What sank?'

f. sina tai ha -ra

who he COP INTERROG
'Who is he?’

g. sina -ra tai 0

who INTERROG he

(44) reveals that in simplex sentences (or in main clauses)

participants in any syntactic role can be questioned. For
example, (44a) and (44e) question subjects. (44b) questionsan
indirect object and (44c) questions an oblique. (44d)
questions a direct object. (44f) and (44g) question the
complement of the copula. Even, some elemets of a complex
quotative sentence may be questioned. For example, (6b) cited
above makes possible questions such as those in (45)

(45) a. sina tira wab —a —e tatuma

who woman die PUNC PAST 3pl.□

ribu -n —a —e -ra
say sg PUNC PAST INTERROG
'Who said to them "the woman died"?'

b. kasikaha tatuma anibaka

what 3pl.O young girl

ribu —n —a —e —ra
say sg PUNC PAST INTERROG
'What did the young girl say to them?’

Nevertheless, other complex sentence types, in which

embedding often causes main clauses to split, for instance,
the conditional sentence in (46) below

(46) airamo hi- ribu yatu nona —naka -kore

chief 2sg.POS word you do NEG COND

sabahi —te
scold NON-PAST
'If you do not stick to his words, the chief will scold
you'

24
 tend to avoid question-word questioning within the embedded
clause. In this regard, no instance of questioned embedded
clause constituent by using question—words appears in the
Collected data. In addition to that fact, all the hypothetical
examples 'presented to the informants were considered
ungrammatical.1 It is likely that the fronting of the
questioned1constituent inherent to question-words brings about
syntactic complications that act as deterrant. Quotatives seem
to escape this restriction because the embedded clause, i.e.
the quote, precedes the entire main clause, which makes the
former behave as any initial object that needs not be further
moved from;its original position.

There is an alternative mechanism to question constituents

within embedded clauses in complex sentences. This implies the
use ;of sina 'who' and/or kasi kaha ’what’ preceding the
embedded clause provided that the main clause is left out, in
a treatment identical with echo questions. Such a treatment is
by thejWay:of illustration applied to (46), as shown in (47)

(47) a. sina —ra hi ribu nona —naka —kore 0

who INTERROG 2sg.F'OS say do NEG COND
’If who do not do as he (the chief) says?’

b. kasikaha —ra yatu nona —naka —kore

what INTERROG,you do NEG COND
’If you do not do what?’

s "
Since the interrogative marker —ra ’INTERROG' only attaches
to main verbs, which in this particular context is absent, the
question-word themselves suffix them. This is a commonplace
procedure in Warao, more likely to take place in copulative
sentences in which the copula may be omitted, such as
exemplified in (44f).

To question constituents within postpositional phrases, the

corresponding head nouns must be replaced by the proper
interrogative pronoun. The following pair illustrate the case:

(48) a. atono kaika oka naru —ki —tia

Antonio with we go INT HAB
(Anthony)
'We are going with Anthony as usual'

25
 b. sina kaika ako naru -ki -tia -ra
who with we ga INT HAB INTERROG
'With whom are we going as usual?'

(4 9 ) a. tai a wahibaka wanari —a —e

he of canoe sink PUNC PAST
(lit.) 'The canoe of he sank’

b. sina a wahibaka wanari -a —e —ra

who of canoe sink PUNC PAST INTERROS
(lit.) 'The canoe of whom sank?', or
'Itlhose canoe sank'

In the absence of interrogative pronouns to question about

place, time, quantity or amount, etc., (Warao lacks
interrogatives with where, when, how many connotation), the
language uses sina 'who' and kasikaha 'what' as interrogative
determiners which modify nouns referring to location, time,
currency, price, etc., giving the idea of what place?. what
day?, what Quantity?, who individual?, etc. Some examples are
shown in (50)

(50) a. kasikaha ama a hokahi eku

what moment of sun in(side)
(to)day

naru —te —ra

go NON-PAST INTERR06
(lit.) 'In what day do/will you go?', or
'When da/will you leave?'

b. sina warao -tuma yaota rubohi —te -ra

who Warao PL work hurry NON—PAST INTERROG
'What Warao da/will hurry the work?’

11.3. Echo questions

Warao echo questions require no special answer words. Simple

affirmative or negative responses to questions may involve
repeating the verb of the question, with or without additional
material:

YES/NO ECHO QUESTION

(51) A: ama a hokahi ata oka yaota -te
(to)day in we work NON—PAST
'We are work today'

B: (ama a hokahi ata) yatu yaota -te -ra

today in you work NON-PAST INTERROG
'Do you work today?'

26
 i: A: (ama a hokolii ata ’oka) yaota -te
‘1 1today in we work NON-PAST
1 ’ (We)'work today'

f i QUESTION-WORD ECHO QUESTION

(52) A: domu ine hat -a -e
bird I spear PUNC PAST
'I speared a bird'

B; kasikaha —ra (yatu hat —a —e )

1 what INTERROG you spear PUNC PAST
'What (did you spear?)’

C: domu (ine hat —a —e )

bird I spear PUNC PAST
i - ' (I speared) a bird'

In Warao, the repeating of the verb in a yes/no echo

question is obligatory, such as it is shown in (51). This
response may be preceded by the affirmative words nome 'yes'
and tuatane 'it is so', or the negative tuatane ana 'it is not
so' .

For question—word echo questions, responses are usually

reduced to the items that represent questioned constituents,
often in the absence of verbs, as exemplified in (52).

Interestingly, short answers to yes/no questions in Warao

exhibit a. peculiar phonology: they are often more like
paralinguistic utterances than like ordinary morphemes, for
instance, affirmative uh—hunh and negative unh-uhn. which may
be furnished as answers in the language. These expressions are
nasalised since they must flow out through the nose given
total closure at lip level.

12. NEGATION

12.1. Simplex sentence negation (or main clause negation)

Negation is expressed by means of the suffix -naka 'NEG',

whose scope is the entire sentence. The negative marker —naka
'NEG' is directly attached to the verb root, possibly followed
by a mood marker if the need arises to indicate modality
overtly. It is convenient to state that all unmarked for mood
main clauses are in the indicative. Once —naka 'NEG' has been
added to the verb root, the inflectional markers for number
and aspect/tense appear on the auxiliary verb ta 'AUX'. For
example, the negative sentence in X53)

27
 I

t
i:
t
(53) hi- rima nao -naka ta -te
2sg.P0S -father come NEB AUX NON-PAST
'Your -father does not came’

Mould have an a-f-firmative counterpart as in (54)

(54) hi- rima nao -te

2sg.P0S -father come NON-PAST
’Your -father comes' i

Other examples illustrating positional changes undergone by

verb in-flections in negative sentences are shown in the pairs
below

(55) a. ine namina -naka ta —bu -te

I know NEG AUX ITER NON-PAST
'I really do not know’

b. ine namina —bu -te

I know ITER NON-PAST
'I really know (it)’

(56) a. osibu ine nahoro -naka -turu ta -te

morocoto I eat NEG OPT AUX NON—PAST
(kind of
fish)
'I do not want to eat fish'

b. osibu ine nahoro -turu ta -te

morokoto I eat OPT AUX NON-PAST
'I want to eat fish'

In (55), -naka ’NEG’ breaks the verb inflectional string,

inducing the presence of the auxiliary on which aspect j and
tense must appear. In (56) —naka ’NEG’ admits a followingjmood
marker, in this case —turu 'OPT', which in turn disrupts the
verb inflectional chain, bringing about tense suffixing to the
auxiliary (In Warao mood markers as well as negative, and
interrogative markers are closing morphemes, so they do, not,
allow further suffixing. Once they break the verb inflectional
chain, the auxiliary becomes the locus for tense/aspectj and
number markers. ISee 26.1.2.3. and 26.1.2.33. :

12.2. Negation in some sentential constituents ■

Nominals, adverbials and postpositional phrases functioning

as objects and subject complements may be negated byi the
addition of the indefinite determiners ekira 'no' and, ana
’n o ’. ekira/ana 'no' postposed to a noun, an adverb and a
postpositional phrase form a sort of lexical item expressing
the antonym or the opposite. For example j.
f
!
28
 (57) a. warao a tira ekiratai ha
; : ' Wairao of woman no \ he COP
, ' ■ (lit.) ’He is a Warao without a woman', or
. i;|. He is unmarried)
^ ■ ;■ f
' .' b. yarokota ekira ebe warao -tuma waba -te
( ; '-I■; !>l medicine no because Warao PL die NON-PAST
' ll i ’The Warao died because of the lack of medicine’

i. jjici'- Asi;.hurio tai ha —ra

i : 'v '1: ; Julio he COP INI ERROG
Nj ' Is he Julio?;,

s. , ...
;Bi^hurio ana ,
;1’4' \, Julio no ,
!' ij.: r (lit.) ’No Julio’ , or
‘ ;J 1 'He is riot Julio’, or
'1; ; iV H : t 'He is other than Julio’

i :' d. At nahoro yatu ha -ra

j ?J M( !!; L ! food you COP INTERROG
•; i ■I) .
;j (i, ■i ’Do you have any food?’

B: nahoro ana !
food no
(lit.) ’No food’, or
‘1/We have no food’

’ ej tae ana wauta kuhubu —a —e

"i 1 courage no Wauta fight RUNG PAST
Lt L i.i ’Wauta .fought uncourageously’

• f- tuatane ana wayabu —n -a -e

' thus no occur Sg PUNC PAST
, : ’It occurred not in that way’

'(57a!';stiows' an instance of1'a negated postpositional phrase.

<57e) illustrates a negativiZed adverb functioning as an
oblique. ,i(57f) contains the counterpart of the adverb of
manner; tuatane ’thus’ as an adjuct. (57b-d) are examples of
negated .nouns. These latter examples involve items functioning
as subject complements in copulative sentences and incomplete
sentence responses.

Moreover;, the manner postposition omi ’PRIV’, which is

'inherently negative, is similar in function and meaning to
English•’without’. For example 1
' i - . ■; j

29.
 I

(58) a. yasi crnii yatu naru -naka hokohi ,

hat without you go NEB sun ,

ahera -te i
d isturb NON-F'ABT
(lit.) ’You do not go without a hat. The sun
disturbs'

b. ma- ami naru -n —a -e

lsg.O without go sg PUNC PAST
'He went without me', or
'He went alone'

Finally, there is an indefinite pronoun that is inherently

negative: ekira ’nothing/none'. j

12.3. Complex sentence negation

For complex coordinate sentences which relate two (or more)

finite (or tensed) clauses paratactically, negation operates
such as in simplex sentences: —naka 'NEB' is suffixed to the
verb of one or the other clause, or both, depending on whether
conjointness (or disjointness), or adverseness is involved.
Such an addition of the negation marker to verbs triggers :the
regular tense and aspect inflection movements linked to the
presence of the auxiliary ta 'AUX' elsewhere.

On the other hand, although Warao employs little embedding,

the data reveals that the means for negating
hypotactically—related clauses are not different from those
observed in simplex sentences, and complex
paratactically-related ones.

Embedding in Warao implies one clause holding a

hypatactical relation with another, whose linkage may be
indicated either by an inflectional morpheme in association
with aspect/mood, or by an independent word (a sort of
complementizer), or by nothing. The possibilities of combining
negative and non-negative main and embedded clauses, no matter
the kind of linkage between them, are: (i) negative main
clause/non-negative embedded clause, (ii) non—negative main
clause/negative embedded clause, and (iii) negative main
clause/negative embedded clause. In the types in (i) and
(iii), negation has a broad scope covering the entire
sentence. Within this context, negation, morpho-syntactically
speaking, operates just as it does within the simplex sentence
context. Examples of the combinations in (i) and (iii) are
offered in (59)

30
 (59) a. yak ' -era haka -n -a -e arone
; * goodness ftUGH run s g P U N C PAST although

tamaha era -naka ta -n -a -e

this one defeat NEG AUX sg PLjNC PAST
'This one did not defeat (him) although he ran well’

'b.1 fca— inoara airamo moa -nalca kuare oko

Ipl.POS wage chief pay NEG as we

yaota -naka ta —te

work , NEG AUX NON-PAST
'As the chief does not pay (us), we do not work'

(59a) is an example of negative main clause/non—negative

embedded clause. (59b) illustrates the negative main
ciause/negativs embedded clause relationship. In bath cases,
the scope of negation is the entire sentence.

The type in (ii) corresponds to complex sentences in which

negation has a narrower scope. In this type, negation is
restricted only to the embedded portion of the whole sentence,
such as shown in (60)

(60) tama -tika -mo naru -naka mioroi isiko

that LOC ABL go NEG in order that one

!■ oriteri -bu —n -a —e
make a deal ITER sg PUNC PAST
(negotiate)
(lit.) 'One made a deal (negotiated) insistently in
: order that they did not go from right here’

13. DIRECT SPEECH

Warao allows direct—quote complements only with the

utterance verb dibukitane 'to say'. The Warao speaker merely
passes on the direct quote complement as a more-or— less
verbatim quotation. Conversely, indirect-quote complements do
not occur in the language. In these respects, Warao behaves as
most languages, in which indirection "is absent probably
because it implies a certain paraphrase that leads to take
editorial responsibilities on the part of speakers. Those
responsibilities are reflected in the control of co-reference
pronouns. Thus, speakers of such languages take a much more
limited responsibility restricting themselves to
direct-quotes, which, of course, exert less editorial
tampering" (Giv6n, 1983:121).

In Warao, the quote (or speech being quoted) occurs

 f
1

sentence-initially, in the position generally taken by ,

sentential objects and complements. Examples are shown in (6).
Although indirect quotation is not -found in the language,
there is a verb suffix —vama 'BY HSY’ <= "by hearsaying-),
that expresses the non—responsibility of the speaker for 'the
speech he employs and which transmits almost textual
information from other source. In this sense. — vama 'BY HSY'
suggests indirection: t
i
(61) warao a wahabara nahamutu arai warao —tuma
Warao of fore sky on Warao PL .
(Before the Warao) i
I
haku -a —e -yama ■
live PUNC PAST BY HSY 1
(lit.) 'The Warao lived an the skies at the beginning
of mankind, it is said', or :
'It is said that the Warao lived on the skies at !the
beginning of mankind' !

However, -vama 'BY HSY' is used in association with ( the

periphrastic legendary past advebials of the language,
within narratives handed down for generations. Thus, as it
might be expected, —vama 'BY HSY' has a restricted usage 1 and
it is very seldom, if ever, heard in everyday speech.
Independently from these last considerations, —vama 'BY HSY’'
is a significant indicator that the speaker is transmitting
someone else’s comments, which is a manifestation l of
indirection. ;

14. REFLEXIVES/RECIPROCALS j

There is no morphological distinction between reflexives and

reciprocals. Reflexivity is expressed exclusively byj the
verbal prefix vori- ’REF' which also covers reciprocals, yori-
attaches to intransitive and transitive verbs: 1

(62) a. ine yori- hokara -te

I REF wash NON-PAST
'I wash myself’

b. ihi a hiaka yori- aba -te

you of garment REF put on NON-PAST
'You yourself put on that dress of yours'

c. ka- beroro -tuma yori- kanuy -a -e

Ipl.POS perro PL REF wound PUNC PAST
(dog)
'The dogs wounded each other'

32
 Jhe ..same prefix also attaches ta the dative postposition
saba 'to/for',ahd the agentive postposition aisia 'by’ making
composites; that replace respectively the indirect objects and
underlying' transitive subjects with which they come along. In
such cases', the antecedents of these composites are either in
preceding .sentences; |

16-3) 1 yoti— 'aisia ribu —i !i —ha

REF ‘by say COMP PERF
' v ’ (I/you/he) has/have (been) said by
*. i (myself,/yourself/himself ) ’
j t ’ 'Uii 4, ii . - i;
< '■ " 5!- '• m; I
far in the same sentence;

X64-) nebu . —tuma tuatane yari— saba war —a -e

( young men Pi. thus : REF o speak PUNC PAST
1’The '^oung men' spoke'each other thus (in that manner)’

vori- ’REF’ s also transmits an idea of uniformity the

peffarmingi; of \graup activities. For example:
'ti

(65) a. yori- kayuk.a kubaki -te

s f 1REF ' all fight WON-PAST
’ ] 1 i ’All" of you fight,; as fane man’

I kokotuya yori- wara -ki -tia

i everybody REF sing !:INT HAB
! ’Everybody is going to sing with (in
■ unisoni. as usual ’ :

In'expressing this last meaning, the reflexive may attach to

verbs,' nouns or pronouns.

15. 'FOCUS -(Romero—Figueroa, 1985)

Warao,. permits variations,, from the basic OS9 order. Far

example, S is moved to initial position in question—word
questioning: 1

(66) •siha tama — ha ribu —te • —ra

"■< who this NOM, say ;NON—PAST INTERROB
i ;] ’Who says that?’ i

t
33
 I

The sentence initial occurrence of S in (66) may be

accounted -for by an obligatory rule of WH—QUESTION MOVEMENT.
In (66), the -focal point has been fronted. The concept focal
point or focus here is somewhat similar to that of new
information: it applies to what is requested through the
question rather than to what is already common knowledge or
pressuposed. Thus, the fronting of the focus is a dominant
device far question formation in Warao. Since all major
sentence constituents may be questioned in the language, when
WH-movement operates upon sentences having multiple objects,
i.e., sentences containing direct objects plus indirect
objects with or without obliques, or sentences containing
several oblique objects, such movements have the effect of
reversing the position of some of them respecting the others.
Far instance, the questioning of the direct object of i a
sentence such as in (67)

(67) buare aisiko ibure hua n -a -e

machete with wild pig Juan kill PUNC PAST
(big knife) (John)
'John killed a wild pig with a machete'

implies the fronting of such a direct abject which makes the

oblique appear after the direct object in the interrogative
farm of the sentence:

(6B) kasikaha buare aisiko hua

what machete with Juan
(big knife) (John)

n —a —e —ra
kill PUNC PAST INTERROG
'What did John kill with the machete?'

S fronting and the reversing of the order of D ’s is commoun

in statements as well. In such cases, variations from the
basic order are conditioned by the discourse environment,
marking a diversity of functions including focus— this time
highlighting. and providing new information rather than
requesting it as in the case of interrogatives. A FOCUS
FRONTING RULE may account for orders different from OSV in
statements. The operation of this rule is illustrated below:

(69) a. atono saba yasi yak -era tai nisa -te

Antonio for hat goodness AUGM he buy NON—PAST
(Anthony)
'He will buy a good hat for Anthony'

34
,i -
i . ■< '
, ‘ b. tai atono saba yasi yak -era nisa -te
| he Antonio -for1 hat goodness AUGM buy NON-PAST
l ! | (Anthony)
( i ’ 'It is him who will buy a hat -for Anthony'
;i i 1 • . .
j i c. yasi yak -era atono saba tai nisa -te
3 r i , 1 ,; :hat goodness AUGM Antonia -far he buy NON-PAST
| i !i: ■ <1 ! . (Anthony)
I i 'A good hat is what he will buy for Anthony'
j ■■ ' :
, It seems very likely that in OSV and DATIVE OSV sentences, a
;constraint against fronting more than one constituent in a
!|sentence' regulates the operativity of the FOCUSING RULE. In
j (69V, it may be noticed that when S, or direct 0, is fronted,
tno movement of other constituents takes place. In my view, the
constrained J operativity of the FOCUS FRONTING RULE acts in
j favor of my hypothesis of OSV as the basic order in the
Jlanguage. ■ |
»
i Furthermore,,some obliques may appear post-verbally. This is
| particularly true of OSV and DATIVE OSV sentences with
I obliques, in which the latter may be thought to be more
•peripheral constituents. It is my contention that the more
iperipheral a constituent of the Warao basic simplex sentence
J is, the freer its placement:

(70) a. ama ebe hanokosebe eku —ya kasiri aisiko

I moment before village in ALL kasiri with
i > (time ago)
■i ■ i, i
i hoho airamo —tuma aban -a -e
j feast chief PL organize F'UNC PAST
l ’The chiefs organized a feast with kasiri in(to) the
village (some) time ago'

b. hanokosebe eku —ya ama ebe hoho airamo—tuma

village in ALL moment before feast chief PL
(time ago)

aban —a —e kasiri aisiko

organize PUNC PAST kasiri with
'It was in(to) the village, (some) time ago, that
the chiefs organized a feast with kasiri'

(71) a. ho muhoko rau arai warao isaka

water side of trunk on Warao one

tobo —n —a -e
sit down sg F'UNC PAST
’One Warao sat down on a tree trunk on the si de of
the river’

35
 I

b. dau arai ho muhoko warao isaka

trunk on water side of Waraa one

tobo -n -a -e j
sit down sg PUNC PAST
’It was on a tree trunk an the side of the river
that one Waraa sat down’ !
)
c. waraa isaka dau arai tobo —n —a —e }
Warao one trunk on sit down sg PUNC PAST f

ho mukoho
water side of ;
'It was one Warao who sat down on a tree trunk j on
the side of the river’ .

(70-71) show that obliques may appear in several different

places within sentences. But obliques often precede or follow
other DSV sequences; at least this is true of sentences having
direct D ’s such as the ones in (70), as well as sentences
containing several obliques such as those in (71). (71c),
which is the only sentence within (71) not exhibiting ;GSV
order, reflects the operation of the FOCUS FRONTING RULE upon
the subject of the sentence; therefore, (71c) has to| be
S-initial. It might be thought that the basic position of (the
more peripheral constituents within the Warao basic simplex
sentence is final, and that they are fronted by the FOCUS
FRONTING RULE in a way similar to that of moving subjects,
direct objects, etc. I find such possibilities inappropriate
since as (71c) shows, the FOCUS FRONTING RULE would have! to
front more than one sentential constituent at a time. I Have
painted out earlier in this analysis that there is ( a
constraint against a fronting movement of more than ,ane
constituent; such a constraint favors my OSV word order
hypothesis and, clearly, my accepting of a multifranting
operation for the FOCUSING RULE would weaken it since I would
be using rules to explain free order rather than OSV order. I
view the change in position of some obliques as motivated by a
kind of relationship that operate in discourse called staging
relationships. Grimes (1975:113) paints out that "staging
relationships are concerned with expressing the speaker's
perspective on what is being said". Additionally, Grimes
(1975:323) indicates that "every clause, sentence, paragraph,
episode and discourse is organised around a particular element
that is taken as its point of departure. It is as though jthe
speaker presents what he wants to say from a particular
perspective. I find it convenient to think in terms of how
various units are staged for the hearer's benefit". !'

To explain staging in Warao, focusing must be brought again

into discussion. I have already mentioned that new information
in Warao tends to appear in sentence initial position, which

36 i
 ; ■ iv .■'f - -y- v; r ;

:;l l (Jc.'iuij ! i , , I:'■ I-. , ■: T j

/ •
; '■<) 7 ri. rf! )
•focuses it. Since the sentence ^initial positioning of new
information in- the language is implemented by the FOCUS
FRONTilNB: RULE, such a rule, for example, fronts the oblique
hanokosebe teku'va 'in(to) the ";vi1 lage’ in (70b). In (71c), the
FOCUSINB,., RULE jfrants the subject .waraa isaka ‘one Warao’ in a
way -similar to that in which the rule operates upon the
oblique in (70b). The moving of other sentential constituents
in j (70b) and (71c) may be considered a consequence of the
operation of the'FOCUSINB RULE'to front those constituents
representing new information,' i.e. hanokosebe ekuva and warao
i saka. which are now "centered on the stage" (Brimes,
1975: 325) . i-The relocation of ithe abliques kasiri aisiko ‘with
kasiri” in (70b) and ho muhoko ‘on the side of the river’ in
(71c) ——both representing packages of old information— depends
upqn the speaker’s consideration of them as secondary or
Unimportant enoug h a s to be siderstaged or placed far from the
center ;of ;the .stage occupied ,by the new information or focus.

: E L L I P S I S ! ‘ ,f ■? ;■■■ j;

; ; : L ; f !■;■' ' if: I;

Ellipsisitakes place when there is absolutetely no reference
i n ■ the clause'or fragment thereof to a clearly understood
entity,- or action, and when the structure in question allows
overt ..inclusion of such a reference. Ellipsis in Warao is
common li.n the following contexts:,
="
■ ■'
■ 'll■ : , .! I.
, (i) Paratactic clauses (ccordiriates) :

’ (72) ;! 6 Jhoninakd -te Tiobrito —ma kotobu —te

I * || .fdive 1 NON-PAS‘boy| PL play NON—PAST
! ’ ' ‘The boys play (and) '(the boys) dive'

j (73)- noboto —ma 0 anibaka i: rau kabata —e

\ .s bo^ !, PL , young gi rl weed cut NQN—PAST
i. i. ! ,‘The boys (cut .weeds),, (and) and the girls cut weeds'

(72—73) shows.that coordinate constituents may be omitted in

a clause when identical to the constituents of the immediately
preceding' or fallowing clause.

An ' analogous case of ellipsis (in paratactic clauses occurs

in comparatives, as shown in '(74)1

,i ^74.)sikaro dihab era' O jsimo dihaba sabuka ha

i. L sugar cane sweet AUBM honey sweet less COP
! : J’Sugar cane, (is) sweet. Honey is less sweet’

, i- lJ " ‘I- < ii: i

i:
37 ,
 (ii) Hypatactic (embedded) clauses:

(74) oriwaka ine burata 0 ha -kore abana -te

dance I plata COP COND organize NON-PAST
(money)
'I will organize a dance if (I) have money’

(74) exemplifies the case of an elliptical subject within

the embedded clause burata hakore 'If (I) have money', which
keeps identity with the subject of the main clause oriwaka ine
abate 'I will organize a dance'. (74) illustrates
intra-sentential coreferentiality. ,

(iii) Short answers to questions:

(75) A: ma kaika ihi nao -naka ta -e -ra

lsg.O wih you come NEB AUX PAST INTERROB
'Don’t you come with me?'

B: 0 nao -naka
come NEB
'(I) don't come'

(76) A: sina okoho —a -e —ra

who shout PUNC PAST INTERROS
'Who shouted?'

B: hi— rani O
2sg.POS mother
'Your mother'

In cases of elliptical answers to yes/no questions, such as

in (75), any constituent other than the verb may be left out.
For question-word questions (and echo questions as well), any
constituent may be elided.

(iv) Copulative sentences:

The copula is omitted very frequently. It seems that, in

Warao, the copula is the LOCUS for past tense. Non—past tense
is not marked in the copula. The copula in this language is a
sort of semantically—empty dummy verb. Copulative sentences,
temporarily unmarked simply do not need the dummy carrier:

(77) a. dims a kabesekuhu irida O

father of pair of pants bigness
'The pants of my father (are) big'

38
 b. iboma -ma siborori ha —e
girl PL happiness, COP, PAST
'.The girls were happy’

(y)-Passive constructions:
■.». I iJ ,.M ‘ I ;
;, Transitive subjects of passives1 may, or may not, be overtly
expressed, ! Occurrences of elliptical passives transitive
subjects usually imply identity across sentence boundaries,
i .e". , their antecedents are in any preceding sentence. In
Wariao passives, the agentive postposition aisia ’by'
introduces the underlying transitive subject, whereas the verb
of the sentence (or the auxiliary, if necessary) suffixes the
completive, past tense marker ’COMP’ and the perfective
aspect marker -ha 'PERF':

(7B) a. tama —ha a namu ma aisia nona —i —ha

this NOM of container lsg.O by make COMP PERF
■ ! (lit.) 'The container of this one was made by me'

t .n
i b1
.; tama —ha a namu 1 0 aisia nona -i —ha
this MOM of container by make COMP PERF
. ■ , ,i ’.The container of this one was made (He didn’t make
it, but someone else did)'

The elided transitive subject of the passive leaves the

postposition aisia 'by' as a trace, which makes eminently
clear that a doer exist, even when it remains unspecified.

(vi) Possessive phrases:

In Warao, a-possessive noun phrases may be reduced by

eliding the possessor, with retention of the postposition
ml u
'of'. Elliptical a-possessives take place under anaphori
correspondences, depending upon who the speakers are and their
roles in the events being narrated:

(79) a. tai a nibora ribu —n —a —e

she of man say sg PUNC PAST
'The husband of hers said'

b. 0 a nibora ribu —n —a -e
of man say sg PUNC PAST
'The husband (of hers) said (the wife is speaking)'

39
 l

(80) a. warao sanera a nDboto “Ena saba oka ka naharo

Warao poverty of child PL to we lpl.POS food
t
mo —a -e ,
give PUNC PAST
‘We gave our -food to the children of the poor
people' j

b. 0 a noboto —ma saba oka ka— nahorp 1

of child PL to we lpl.POS food !

mo —a —e £ i
give PUNC PAST f
‘We gave our food to the children (of the poor
people)‘ l

Such as in the case of passives, a ‘of", as a trace, ensures

the existence Qf an unmentioned possessor. j

17. ANAPHORA

The presence of full noun phrases is generally interpreted

as a signal of pragmatically—marked contexts. Such items often
introduce new information in discourse or clarify referents
when sufficient ambiguity has arisen in a piece of speech.. For
Warao, this assertion seems to be rather valid because -full;
noun phrases have a low rate of occurrence in speech,! as
compared, far instance, with free and bound pronouns, which'
are primary means of referring to participants in discourse.
Free and bound pronouns couple with contextual information
that helps to identify participants, allowing a proper
development of the speech sequences and favoring adequate!,
interpretation of the messages: t
i
(81) a. warao isiko naharo -bu -n -a -e
Warao one eat ITER sg PUNC PAST
‘A Warao ate repeatedly’ i

b. tai nahoro abana -kore ta —n -a -e -yama 1

he food serve COND AUX sg PUNC PAST BY HSY !

0 obonobu —n —a —e sina tama —tifea i

think sg PUNC PAST someone this LOC i
fi
nao —te
come NON—F'AST
‘It is said that when he served food, he thought
someone comes right here' ]

c. dihase —mo O ine mi —te —ine 1

hideout ABL I see NON-PAST I 1
‘I will see (him) from a hideout' i

40
 I
m

Mid. !aru' ■ a bahubu kabana nokaba 0

'!m a n ia c of stems slash1 behind

dihi -n —a —e
hide sg PUNC PAST; ,
'•’He. hid behind slashed stems Df maniac'

f !e. tania —tika —mo tai nabaka —te kotai O

i i ;’ his- LOC ABL he! arrive NON-PAST REL

■ t: !*« ‘mi — ki —tia — ine '! ■;

.; iv. “ • "see- INT HAB I >(. *
I am going to see) from righthere he (the one) that
j. J .arrives* ...

j (Si!) represents a piece of narrative by a chief giving

explanations about how some; events happening in his village
outskirts developed. In this1 particular narrative, the
i contents ■ o f ? sentences( 8 1 a ) ( 8 1 b ) and (Sid) clearly
differentiate; ‘from those in (81c) and (Ble): whereas the
k :‘- formerl! group pirovides orientational information (given by the
narratorl ,j‘the latter presents the action as if it were spoken
by. the actor himself (also given1;by the narrator). Both groups
of i contents exhibit some free pronouns, such as tai ’he' and
tamaha.i’thjis one' which always need to have, either intra- or
extrarsentential, „ coreferents, i In fact, tai "he" and warao
isaka 'one Harao' in (81 a) and (81b) corefer, and tai 'he' in
(Ble) corefers with tamaha 'that one" in (81b). tamaha 'this
-one’ ‘ in' (81b) lacks a coreferent and rather introduces a new
character.1 Further, -ine ’I ’ in‘ (81c) and (81e), as a bound
subjective! pronoun, marks a: highly topical character already
mentioned;; by way of its coreferent the free pronoun ine 'I'.
Both, ; (81c) and (Ble), exemplify typical cases of
intra-sentential coreferentiality with emphatic overtones.

Moreover^, the, verb number marker -na 'sg' in several of the

sentences of the narrative in (81) sets up a sort of
cor-eferential | relationship with; the sentential subjects
CSee ( )jl- Number keeps identity with singular subjects,
mainly- third person ones (wfien other singular persons appear
M r i n ‘subjects, the number marker often remains unexpressed). Due
ta| the fact that third person subjects are usually left out,
the .number marker in the verb acts as a meaning-preserving
device. '(, .I;-: (■;, : .1:

lSii RELATIVES (Romero—Figueroa, 1994)

From a cfoss-linguistic perspective, the distinction between

restrictive (henceforth rc)land non-restrictive (henceforth
n-rc) clauses within relative clauses (henceforth RC) appears
si.; I ,•t-Mi I
-

41 !■
i,m a
to be irrelevant

Waraa relatives tit Comrie’s characterization at RC a s ' a

construction consisting necessarily ot a head noun and a ‘rc
which restricts such a head noun by giving a proposition that
must be true ot the actual reterent ot the overall sentence
(Comrie, 1981:136), In agreement with Camrie’s
characterization, Keenan (1935:141) points ou that RC's are
tull noun phrases consisting at a determiner, a common noun
and an rc. Keenan adds that semantically the common noun
(henceforth N) determines a class of objects, called the
domain of relativization and the rc identifies the sub—set of
the domain, those elements which satisfy the condition given
by the RC. In Waraa R C ’s, the domain N occurs within the rc,
which makes them internal (as opposed far instance to English,
in which the domain N occurs outside the rc):

(32) ima -ya domu nari -te Icotaimi — kitane

night ALL bird fly NQN-PAST REL see INFINIT

nao — kotu >

come 2pl.IMP
'You all, come to see the bird that flies at night'

In (32), the rc imaya narite kotai 'that flies at night' is

split by domu 'bird', the domain N. Thus, the RC iroaya domu
narite kotai 'the bird that flies at night' is clearly of the
internal class. In Waraa, subject and abject nouns may : be
relativized. The relativizer item is kotai 'REL'.

SECTION THREE: MORPHOLOGY

Morphologically, Warao is a highly-inflective language that

profusely uses both prefixation and suffixation. On the
grounds of such a morphological trait, the first distinction
that is relevant for the Warao parts-of-speech system is that
between nominals and verbs. Nominals group all those speech
parts that totally or partially share a common set of prefixes
and/or suffixes. Verbs differentiate from nominals given their
particular set of prefixes and suffixes, which do not overlap.
Nominals include nouns (within which attributive nouns— or
adjective-like items— are sub-classed since they are not fully
differentiated from nouns), numerals, pronouns and adverbials
(normally denominals attaching noun inflection markers). Verbs
are represented by both finite and non—finite forms.
Postposition is a closed class of syntacic relationals.
Finally, determiners constitute a class of its own.

42
 ..19. N O U N S

Nouns inflect for possession, case and number. Prefixal

and :suffixal ordering is as exemplified in (S3)

| i ( S 3 )f a . h i - r a k a i - ( tu )m a -to
i . ! ' : 2 s g . POC s i s t e r PL i DAT
,1 . ; ’F o r/to your s is te rs '

b . ma- tira -si

1sg.POS woman DAT
’For/to my wife'

c . domu —tu m a
.. .bird PL
i.'birds'

43
 I

d. raka -ma
younger brother DAT
'For/to (his) younger brother

e. ka- hanoko -tuma —mo

ipl.POS house PL ftEL
’From our house’

f. dani
Father
’His/her father’

g. tukubita —ya
Tucupita ALL
’To Tucupita'

h. yatu wahibaka -te

2pl.F'QS canoe LDC
'(With)in your canoe’

i . h- uhu i
2sg.F'0S basket r
’Your basket’ 1
I
j
As (B3) shoins, the possession, number and case markers' may
be adjacent to roots, although if they appear sequentially,
the number suffixes will precede the case ones, which |Will
always be in a closing position.

19.1. Possession j ‘

The possession markers fall into a group distinguishing

three persons in singular and plural. The possession markers
are presented in TABLE 1 below: j

FULL SHORTENED

SINGULAR 1 person ma— ro­

9 person hi — ll—
3 person 0 0

PLURAL 1 person ka— k-

2 person yatu
3 person 0

TABLE 1: Possessive markers

44
i,
 i

iAs vji shown in TABLE 1, the possessive markers may be

,'tully^realized or may occur with a loss of final vowels. The
latter j/ cases' take place when prefix—final vowels and
iiirdot-l'nitial 1 ones have the same quality. Possessive markers
ahe ‘exemplifi'ed in (S3) . ",
j ' )• i. : !i I

j '19.2.Number ' !
j ' 'i 1: 1
; H i v i ! ■!', si, r
Marab makes a morphological distinction between singular and
plural 'nouns. The former are unmarked, whereas tthe latter
.take, the marker - (tu)ma ’PL’:. The full realization -tuma ‘P L ’
'is ■‘listed in most situations,: being the shortened variant -ma
■■f.f4[^-!l!Restricted for a certai'h number of items, largely, kins­
hip terms. As' well, —ma ‘PLJI islused with some deverbal nouns
referring to individuals within the family circle. Number
1markers 'arfe exemplified in (S3).1
■t \ ;tsii ■■■ :■!■' ■ ;
> 1
|;19,.3:.1(Ctese'.;,

k I.i 't ■ '. , ", .

!• :As: illustrated; in TABLE 2 below, there are at least 4
'distih'ct ' caste markers in Warao: DAT (ive! , LOC (ative) ,
iAliLiaii'i'ite) and ABL(lative) i |

DAT — (i )si ' ’ta/for’

— (m) a ’to/for’
—to ’■ ! 'ta/for’
I.
•LDC -no i 'in/on'
—te ’in/on'

ALL -ya 'ta/through'

ABL —mo '' ! 'from'

‘ {TABLE 2: Case—markers

(Warao case—marks nouns mostly functioning as peripheral

sentential constituents, let's say indirect objects and
obliques or adjuncts, outside the subject/direct object core.
'Ouch case'markers convey temporal and spatial meanings within
t h e ‘orientational system of 'the 1language.
; >: ‘ ■i- ; -I i

j (Since Warao lacks markers for subjects and indirect objects,

,and i t s ,dative marking process partly implies temporality, it
mi|ght ; be j rather said that .,Warao possesses local functions
expressing local appositions.
1 j ' ;
~ : 45,.
 DAT is used to express several different meanings. Animate i
nouns take DAT to indicate beneficiary, in particular, within
the indirect object of verbs of giving, as in (84)

(84) dima -si raukuaha tai kona -te

father DAT fruit he bring NON-PAST
'He brings fruit for his father' ;

Further, DAT can perform a temporal function adding a

special time reference to nouns. For example:

(85) haira -ma warao -tuma yaro -te ■

rainy season DAT Warao PL return NON-PAST
'The Warao will return for the rainy season (they will
spend their time in the village then)’

LOG serves as a general marker of static location,| as

illustrated in (86)

(86) dima -no ha

father LOC COP
'He/she is at his/her father's place'

Co-occuring with telic motion verbs, it can also mark

movement towards. The use of LOC in the latter sense,, as
opposed to ALL, carries an additional implication that , the
goal would be reached in the course of motion, for example:

(87) bare a hanoko —ira —no ine naru —te

father of house AUG LOC I go NON—PAST
(priest)
'I go to the mission house (the speaker is approaching
the place as he speaks'

ALL is used to denote movement towards a place in a locative

sense. Additionally, verbs of perception assign ALL to the
object of perception. Both cases are respectively exemplified
in (88) and (89)

(88) hanoko —ya rieko naru —te

house ALL Diego go NON—PAST
'Diego goes to his house'

(89) dau —era. —ya oko mi —a -e

tree AU6 ALL we see PUNC PAST
(jungle)
'We turned our eyes towards (in the direction of) the
jungle'

46
 flBL. is used to indicate source^ in particular, the source at
motion, as in (90) or the source argument co—occurring with
verbs of. taking, as in (91)

(90) naba -ira -mo uru.ru -ira nao -n —a -e

;I creek AUBM ABL noise AUGM come sg PUNC PAST
■i ;(river)
■ 'A big noise came -from the river'

I (91) :dima ebika -no musimo -tuna auka —mo

father front of LGC karib people PL child ABL

nas. —a —e
.take away PUNC PAST
'The Carib people took the child away from his father
(in front of his eyes)’, or
'The Karib deprived the father of his child (in front
of his eyes) ’

19.41 Other suffixes of nouns

» Apart from possession, number and case markers considered in

ii } preceding sections, which represent a wide portion of the
* Warao inflectional morphology, nouns can take certain
i<- j suffixes, , always preceding number and case markers in
,■ wordforms,:expressing referential meanings. These suffixes are
part of the derivational morphology of the language.

There are 10 suffixes that fulfill N==>N derivative

functions:

(i) -baka 'quantity, property, or characteristic'

(92) a. bure craziness

bure —baka 'one that is in a state of craziness’

b . hekuhu ’smoke’
hekuho —baka 'something that puffs’

nibora ’man’
nibora -baka ’a woman having a husband’

(ii) -roko 'addiction to, or attractiion for’

(93) a. ahimu ’kind of ant'

ahimu -roko 'one that is fond of ants', or
'ant-eater’

b. rakatu ’song’
rakotu —roko ’one that likes music’, or
’singer'

47
(iii) -no k p 'pertinent place'

(94) a. omu ’-foot'

omu -noko ’trail', or
'place of the -feet’

b. diara ’fever'
diara -noko ’hospital', or
'place of the -fever’

(iv) -ina 'collective location'

(95) a. naku turtle'

naku —ina place of many turtles'

b. muhu kind o-f ant'

muhu -ina place o-f many ants' , or
ant nest'

(v) -sebe 'quantity, set of something'

(96) a. hara arm'

hara -sebe centipede’

b. hanoko house'
hanoko -sebe village'

(vi ) -witu 'high intensity or incidence'

(97) a. naba ’creek'

naba —witu 'network of creeks'

(vii) —wari '1enqth'

(98) a. hahe 'paddle'

hahe —wari 'the long part of the paddle

(viii) —uka 'diminutive, decreasing amount'

(99) a. isaka 'one'

isaka —uka 'alone'

b . boto ’soft'
boto -uka 'thin' or 'weak'

(ix) -ira/-era ’auamentative, increasing amount'

(1005 a . naba 'creek'

naba -ira ’river'

b „ nibora 'man'
nibora -era ’giant’

48
 (X ) ... — (ro)tu 'owner'
i :1
( 101) a. jibihi venom i
. ■...
jibihi — rotu ‘owner of the venom'
'shaman’

1 The above listed derivational suffixes do not attach to

nouns solely,'.but some of them !also take place with verbs
turning these: into nouns. Tn fact, verbs bring about the
largest amount: of derivative ..nouns because in addition Warao
has a .general nominalizing suffix which is fully productive.
The. V==>N derivative suffixes are;
t ■’’
(i > -na/-ha ’general nominalizer'

(102)" a. ena 'to laugh'

ena —na ’1augh'
t; ,i... *:■.
Oii ) —baka ’quality, property, or characteristic'
f1■ ■ ;
■ (103)' sinaka ’to faint'
i" i .'i'Mijt sinaka —baka 'one that has fainting attacks'
* i. ... .;i.,, . t;
(,iii ) j-rbko 'addiction to, or attraction for'

,r (,io4) nahoro 'to eat’

'nahbro -roko ‘one who eats a lot'

(liv) noko 'pertinent place'

(105). a. lesihari 'to. pound into'

, .! .esihari —noko 'workshop'
!
I ;b. iuba!;: . 'to sleep'
;uba. —nnko ’bed ’

(v) -(ho)tu 'doer, performer’

(106):; a. enamina 'to teach‘

t ; ‘ lenamina —tu 'teacher’
i I:. i1 :i-. ' i m; I
b. jmi . ‘to. see'
,! .mi —hotu ’witness'

I
19.5.: Attributive nouns

In Warao, there is not cleai— cut distinction between nouns

and adjectives. Nevertheless, Warao nouns may function as
(adjective—like) attributives1 modifying other nouns in larger
nominal! constructiions, such as noun phrases, in which they

t ,' 49
are always second members. Within this context, such attribu­
tives behave similarly to their head nouns in that jthey
can— under agreement— inflect for number, although they never
display possession and case markers when modifying. Examples
are shown in (107— 109) !

(107) hiaka yak -era auka saba

garment beauty AUGM daughter for

tai nisa —n —a —e
she buy sg RUNG PAST
'She bought a beautiful dress for her daughter' j

(108) M a r a —era —tuma hoko —tuma ehobo —a —e

heron AUGM PL any shade PL flack PUNC PAST
of a light
color j
'Big white herons flocked'

(109) he haiha —tuma damana noba —tuma

crab freshness PL some grandfather PL

maa —n —a —a i
give sg PUNC PAST
'The grandfather gave some fresh crabs'

In (107), hiaka vakera (lit.) 'a dress to which much beauty

is attributed', or 'a beautiful dress’ is a noun phrase in
which vakera 'much beauty' modifies hiaka 'garment', the head
noun. (108) exemplifies the attributive noun hoko 'any shade
of a light color'— which under a condition of agreement, with
its head noun takes the plural marker modifying waraeratuma
'big herons'. (109) contains a [(noun) + (attributive noun)3
phrase in which the number marker is attached only to the
second member. In modifying roles as those in (107-109),
attributive nouns may attach the derivational suffixes listed
in 19.4.

In addition, attributive nouns can be used as subject com­

plements in attributive copulatives:

(110) ine noho ha

I hunger COP
(lit.) 'I am in hunger', or
'I am hungry’

In copulatives as in (HO), attributives are always adjacent

to copulas, both being precede by subjects in sentence—initial
position. If adverbials appear in copulatives, these must
either precede or follow the [attributive noun + C0P3 segment.
Far example:

50
 j (111), natu\ riara —n a k a ~ n a nobara ha
w grandmother -fever place LOC sickness CDP
(lit.) 'The grandmother is in a condition of sickness
i in the hospital'

'Further, l«!araa possesses the derivational suffix -ira

'STAT', which gets attached to attributive nouns, turning them
into stative:verbs. The general, stativizer -ira 'STAT' is very
productive in the language (See 9.1.

: 20. DETERMINERS

' 20.T. Demonstrative determiners

This is a class of three members which shares with nouns the

suffixation of the number marker -tuma 'PL'. The paradigm of
Warao demonstrative determiners is presented in TABLE 3 below

PROXIMAL

SINGULAR PLURAL

tama 'this' tama —tuma ’these'

DISTAL

SINGULAR PLURAL

ta(i) 'that' ta -tuma 'those'

ama ’that yonder' ama -tuma 'those yonder

TABLE 3: Demonstrative determiners

The items in TABLE 3 are part of a small set of definite

determiners, which locate their heads with respect to the
deictic center of the speech situation in at least three
degrees of distance. Such demonstrative determiners may
indistinctly precede or follow head nouns within noun phrases,
though postceding seems to be most widely spread:

(112) a. noboto -ma ta -tuma

child PL that PL
* ’Those children'

51
 b. ta -tuma nobotD —ma
that PL child PL
'Those children’

20.2. Interrogative and indefinite determiners

As in a number of Amazonian languages, WaraD has a small set

of determiners which show two major uses: indefinite I and
interrogative. These are !

a. sina 'who/some/any'

b. kasi kaha 'what/some/any’

TABLE 4: Interrogative and indefinite

determiners

The two major senses for each determiner are linked, iWhat
the determiners indicate is that the identity of an entity is
not known to the speaker. The interrogative sense may be
engendered, depending on content although it may be morpholo­
gically instantiated by the verb suffix —ra 'INTERROG'. These
process is exemplified in (113) I

INTERROGATIVE i
(113) warao —tuma sina yaota rubuhi —te —ra
Warao PL who work hurry NON-PAST INTERROG !
‘Who Warao will hurry their work?' i

(114) ama a hakohi kasikaha eku yatu

(to)day what in you

naru —te —ra

go NON-PAST INTERROG
'In what day will ou go?'

INDEFINITE !
(115) osibu oko yab —a —e nobo —tuma sina
morokoto we fish PUNCT PAST grandfather F"L who
(kind of
fish)

ribu -a —e 1
say PUNC PAST *
'Some grandfathers said "we fished morokoto”* :

52
 f (116) wahibaka -no ; kasikaha ine hokata -te
l ■ !rk d'anoe-: ’ LOC what !; I get on NON-PAST
i «j t !j Tl will get on in any canoe’

’ Besides the above-mentioned indefinite determiners, Warao

possesses a- large number of items which lack precision for
( identifying or quantifying. They may be considered indefinite
determiners. |Modifying quantifiers and partitives seem to fit
in this sub—class of determiners. They are:

<i )■ jisaka ’one’

(117) riobo isaka i-L

; > grandfather one a
il ’ A grandfather" , or
,, ’One1grandfather ’

.fii > isaka isaka ’some’

(11B) warao isaka isaka haka —n —a —e

« Warao some flee ! sg PUNC PAST
,i ’Some Warao f1ed ’ '

(iii) damana ’some,, a part of'’

(.119), tira. ramana ribu ana ta -n -a -e

woman a part ,of worj'd no remain sg PUNC PAS
’tA part of the woman remained silent’

(iv) damana ramana ’few, little’

(1201 korobi soro ramana ramana mi —a —e

Korobisoro few ; see PUNC PAST
(kind -of i i
,*5.,,^, !:; plant), ;' ' j
>1 ' • i.i. ’j;I saw few korobi soro plants’

(v) daisa 'another, other’ 1

n. i ' ; !
(121) kobenahoro raisa ahubu —n —a -e
1 11 gobernador another appoint sg PUNC PAST
: <i- ('governor) 'u i
’I(He) appointed another: governor (a new one)

(vi) ekira/ana 'no'

‘■j. M ' i
(122) yarokota ekira ebe warao —tuma waba —te
>■: medicine no because Warao PL die NON—PAST
’The Warao die because of the lack of medicines’

53-
(vii) katamona 'amount or quantity o f '

Cl23) he katamona kona —te ine namina —naka

crab amount bring NON—PAST I know NEB
'X da not know (the amount o-f crabs) (but) I bring an
amount of crabs’

Cviii) sibi 'half (part a-f something)'

(124) toi a botora a sibi ine nisa -te

oil D-f bottle of hal-f I buy NON—PAST
'I will buy half a bottle of oil'

(ia) karx 'quarter, or small fraction (of something)’

(125) dau kari ma saba warao isaka kabat -a -e

stick quart lsg.O for Warao one cut PUNC PAST
'One Warao cut a quart of the stick for m e ’

(k ) delta 'both'

(126) noboto —ma reko

child PL both
'Both ch i 1dren'

(;<i) kokotuka 'every'

(127) ama a hokohi kokotuka

(to)day every
'every day’

(xi i) kayuka 'all'

(12B) ka— nahoro kayuka oka ha

lpl.POS food all we COP
'We have all our food'

(xiii) kuarilea 'more'

(129) hobi kuarika ma saba aba -nu

drink more lsg.O for pour 2sg.IMP
(lit.) 'You, pour more drink for me!'

(xiv) sabuka/yahoto 'less/little/few’

(130) dibu yahoto

word few
'laconic'

54
 ■' ; 21. NUMERALS 1 1
.

i j Three classes of numerals can be distinguished: cardinal,

ordinal and distributive.

I
21.1., Cardinals

Cardinals partially inflect for case and are normally used

as nouns. The basic cardinal numbers are five, as shown in
TABLE 5: '

isaka 'one'

mana —mo 't w o '

pair ABL
’ (fingers) coming
! from in a pair’
■i
dihana —mo 'three’
bunch ABL ,
’ (fingers) coming
from in a bunch'

oro -baka -va "four'

unlevel property ALL
(all of the fingers) having
the property of being
unievelled'

moho basi ’five'

hand flat
'the extended hand'

TABLE 5: Basic cardinals

Beyond mohobasi ‘five’, nouns are derived by compounding. To

f understand such a process and the resulting meanings, the
» morphology of the simple cardinals need to be further exami—
■ . ned. A relevant feature of these cardinals is that their
j. meanings correlate with the anatomical behavior observed in
j fingers and hands. The explanations are presented in (131)

(131) a. isaka ’one' = the forefinger

H
•4
’
■i
I-- 55
 b. manamo 'two' = the pair of -fingers that naturally
get together when the hand is I
shown, i.e., forefinger and the j
middle finger ,
f j
,
c. dihanamo 'three' = The group of fingers that [gets
together with ease, as opposed
to the natural resistance to
cluster observed in the di'stal
units: thumb and the little
finger. The group is made j out
of the forefinger, the middle
finger and the ring finger !

d. orabakava 'four’ = the fingers that go up at

different levels, ie., i the
forefinger, the middle finger,
the ring finger and j the
little finger

e. mohabasi 'five' = The extended right hand with its

five fingers (the left hand is
not considered for lthis
purposes) !

i !
It is worth noting that the first five unities refer to
finger arrangements of the right hand which combine (with
finger arrangements of its counterpart— or the left hand— to
give rise to the remaining unities up to ten. All of these
compound cardinalsinvolve the first five unities as second
members, as shown in TABLE 6: j

moho matana isaka *six '

hand counterpart one
(one finger of the
counterpart hand. The
five fingers of the
right hand are already
included in the count)

moho matana manamo 'seven'

moho matana rihanamo 'eight'

maho matana orabakava 'nine'

moho reko 'ten'

hand both

TABLE 6: Compound cardinals up to ten

56
 ■1 ‘

! fibove mbhoreko 'ten' , tfie names of the numerals are formed

periphrastically, linking the corresponding names for
hundreds:, tens and unities by1means of the postposition arai
'on/overi’, as: shown in TABLE 7:

mohoreko arai isak.a ’eleven’

both hands over one
(one finger over the
fingers Of both hands)

;t • t
I : mohoreko arai manamo •" !" 'twelve'
s
j '' i ;}: mohbreko arai rihanamb !
■ 'thirteen
1 } .. ■■ ■ mahoreko’arai oribakaya 'fourteen
i
1 imohoreko; arai mohobasi t 'fifteen'
both hands over extended hand
i(the ten fingers of both hands
,over the,five fingersof t
another, hand) j,

jmohorekb arai moho matana isaka 's i x t e e n '

| (One finger;of the counterpart
;hariii over the fingers’;of both
hands, implying that the right
lhand is alredy included)

mohbreko arai moha matana manamo 's e v e n t e e n ’

mohareka arai maho matana dihanamo 'e i g h t e e n '
mahoreka arai maho matana orabakava 'n i n e t e e n '

warao isaka ij; ( 't w e n t y ’

Warao one
(one Warao with all hi's
fingers and toes) '!

iwarao isaka arai isaka 'twenty one'

iiwarao isaka arai mohareko j 'thirty'

warao manamo 'forty'

Warao two

warao mohabasi ; 'hundred‘

;Warao extended hand
■'Ctulfe Warao)

TABLE 7: Periphrastic cardinals

i The Warao cardinals are very seldom heard beyond the tens
linlebs the need arises given ^an.association with terms and
habjits, borrowed from Spanish ;and the Hispanic people, for
instaincei wi|th Plata *money* borrowing as Warao burata. burata
"'money’ ; generally demands precision in quantity/amount for

57
commercial transactions in the criollo style. For the purposes
of expressing large amounts and quantities, the trend in Warao
is to use indefinite determiners and pronouns. Further, the
language may express large amounts and quantities by suffixing
—witu 'high intensity or incidence’ to nouns, as exemplified
in (132) :

(132) motoro ekira kasorina ekira ka- wa ekira!

outboard no gasoline no lpl.PDS canoe no !
motor

nahoro —witu ha
food H.Inc COP j
‘We have no outboard motor, gasoline (and) our canoe
(but) vjb have a lot of food'

21.2. Ordinals

□rdinals group two items meaning first and last. , as

specified in TABLE B:

(i) wahabara 'first’

(133) a. waraa a wahabara

Warao of first
'The first of the Warao'

b. atono wahabara nabaka -n —a -e

Antonio first arrive sg PUNC PAST
(Anthony)
'Anhony arrived first'

(ii) wahukatu 'last'

(134) ma— rehe a wahukatu

lsg.F'OS story of last
’The last of my stories'

TABLE 8: Ordinals

21.3. Distributives

Distributive numerals are expressed as postpositional

phrases containing cardinals marked by saba ’for/to’, as shown
in (135) below

58
 ! ■‘

1(135) a. isaka isaka saba.

i: , one, one -for
i ‘One -for one’, or ,
ij ’One for each one’

1 ' bi manamo isaka saba

| two one -for1 1
’Two -for each one’
> ‘ !

ci dihanamo isaka saba

, three one -for
; ’Three foreach one’

All cardinals bring about corresponding distributives of the

kind exemplified in (135). Further, a sub-class of
distributives is exclusively expressed as a postpositional
phrase containing cardinals introduced by tane, which can be
roughly‘glossed as English ’times’, tane ’times’ postposed to
any figure indicates the number of times an action occurs. For
example:

:(136) isaka.tane hobi —nu *

one times drink 2sg.IMP
' ’Drink (it) once’

f(T37) dihanaiao tane yatu hobi —ki —tia

three time you drink INT HAB
’ ’You are going to drink (it) three times as usual'

Distributives as the exemplified above always have adverbial

function.

In addition, tane has one more distributional connotation

used to refer to groups consisting of a certain number of
members. In these cases, tane means approximately ’in/by‘. The
intended meaning is reached by postposing tane ’in/by' to
reduplicated cardinals:

(136) orabakaya orabakaya tane kokotuka orinaria

four four by everyone straight line

kanama —kotu
stand 2pl.IMP
’You all (with no exceptions), stand lining four by
f our ’

59
 f

23. PRONOUNS i

On both, derivational and functional grounds, Warao pronouns

can be grouped into demonstratives, personals, interrogatives
and indefinites.

23.1. Demonstrative pronouns f

f
I
The set of demonstrative determiners in TABLE 3, presented
now in (139) .
i
i
(139) a. PROXIMAL SINBOLAR j

tama 'this' '

b. DISTAL SINGULAR ?
(
ta(i) 'that' i
area 'that yonder' |

c. PROXIMAL PLURAL i

tamatuma 'these' (

d. DISTAL PLURAL I

tatuma 'those' I
amatuma 'those yonder’ l
I
I
becomes nominalized by attaching the nominalizing suffi.x -ha
'NOM' giving rise to the set of demonstrattive pronouns of the
language, such as shown in TABLE 9: |

f
a. PROXIMATE SINGULAR

tama -ha 'this one'

this NOM
b. DISTAL SINGULAR

ta (i ) 'that one’
that

ama________ —ha ’that one yonder'

that yonder NOM

60
 A 1.:.•. r
'i- 1
--'{I 1i !
s'ii c.. PROXIMATE PLURAL]
1'
! tama -ha -tuma \ ’these'
““ii] • thi s NOM PL ;■

d. DISTAL PLURAL

- >' •ta -tuma ’those'

' that PL i

ama -ha -tuma 'those yonder’

■>that yonder NOM jPL

TABLE 9: Demonstrative pronouns

• Examples of* demonstrative pronominal usage are presented in

(140) below 1
I ' M: *<.; i;

(140) tama -ha hi i. yehebu -te

this NOM 2sg.0 call NON-PAST
AThis, one calls you’

tai ama .-te nabaka -n -a -e

that one that ybnder LOG arrive sg RUNG PAST
(in over there)
s;3 ’That” one arrived (in) over there'
Hr 'E: ■: :i" j:
ama —ha "ehobo —n —a —e
that yonder N0M>jleave sg PUNC PAST
'That one yonder le-ft’

ta —tuma noboto —ma yewer —a —e

that one PL child; PL punish PUNC PAST
'These punished t h e ;children’

tama —ha k— ;! , abitu raisa

this one NOM lpl.POS of other

ta —tuma abitu1
that one PL of;
'll 'This one.is ours. The others belong to these’
'ii
i M. .I L : ' !: !
; Moreover, , demonstrati ve,; pronouns inflect for case denoting
DAT and ABL functions. In the case of DAT—marked
demonstratives, the suffix 1— (i)si 'to/for' gets attached to it
to signal .beneficiary. The :resulting demonstrative often
operates! as •an argument within the direct abject, but less
frequently is; found within'the!direct object. — (i)si 'to/for'
suffixes1 to the singular demonstrative pronouns tamaha 'this
one’j ,ta;(i) ’that one’ and.iamaha 'that yonder' bringing about

’ll
Mill ^ 61
the farms tamahaisi ‘to this one', taisi 'to that cine’ and
amahaisi ’ta that yonder’. However, the plural farms tamahaltu-
ma, hamama ’these', tatuma ’those' and amahatuma 'those yon­
der' never take —isi ‘to/for', but rather postpose saba
'ta/for', as illustrated in (141) !

(141) a. ta —isi bare mo —a —e

that ane ta father give PUNC PAST
(priest)
'The priest gave (things) to that one'

b, ta -isi tama —ha nab —a -e

that one to this MOM spank PUNC PAST
(this one)
'This one spanked (to) that one’

c. ure ama —ha -tuma saba ihx

malanga that yonder NOM PL to you
(those yonder)

ton a —n —a —e
bring sg PUNC PAST
'You brought malanga to those yonder'

For ABL-marked demonstratives, the suffix —mo ’from’ , is

added to them to express source. Such as in the case of the
DAT-marked demonstratives, -mo ’from* suffixation is restric­
ted to the singular forms; the plural ones postpase ta. 'from'.
The set of ABL-marked demonstrative pronouns is offered in
TABLE 10:

a. PROXIMAL SINBULAR

tamaha —mo 'from this one'

this one from

b. DISTAL SINGULAR

ta(i) 'from that one'

that one

amaha___________ -mo 'from that one yonder'

that one yonder from

c. PROXIMAL PLURAL

tamahatuma ta 'from these'

these from

62
m © n
a a

d. DISTAL PLURAL

tatuma ta 'from those’

; ! those from

amahatuma ta 'from those yonder’

those yonder from

TABLE lO: ABL-marked demonstrative pronouns

(142) exemplifies ABL-marked demonstratives, as follows

(142) a.i tamaha -mo hoya eburu -i -ha

i this one from stone throw RUNG PERF
i j ’Aistone has (been) thrown from this one (referring
i to the place of origin)
‘ I
■%t fa. kokotuka tatuma ta non -a —e
everything those from make RUNG PAST
; 'Everything (was) made by those (the make comes
f!' ' :from those) ’

1
ABL-demonstratives generally function as obliques or
adjuncts. .:

Also, demonstrative pronouns are very commonly found as

elements of postpositional phrases acting as adjuncts of
causal, comitative and instrumental nature:

(143) tamaha kuare ine nao —a -e

’ : this one becauseof I comePUNC PAST
'I came because of this one'

(144) warao orabakaya tamahatuma kailca ha

Warao four those yonder with COP
i TouriWarao are with those yonder’

(145) sesareo amaha ami teribu —te

Cesar that oneyonder withoutconverse NON-PAST
(Caesar)
'Caesar speaks without that one yonder (he does not
need his help in order to speak Waraa)'

23.2. Personal pronouns (Romero—Figueroa, 1995)

In Warao, parts of the sets of personal pronouns are

independent. or free morphemes in all of their possible

63
 I
occurrences in sentences, whether they identify singular or
plural persons. Also, parts of the sets of subject and abject
personal pronouns may be affixed, or bound, to verbs. These
sets of bound morphemes are reduced in number, and they ; are
restricted to the first and second singular person as well as
the first person for both subject and object functions. j

The subjective free pronouns (hereafter IND PRO's) and the

bound ones (hereafter SUF PRO's) arrange in a system as
follows in TABLE 11: !

IND PRO SUF PRO

lsg ine -ine 'I' t

2sg ihi —ihi 'you' j
3sg tai 0 'he/she/it’
r
lpl oko -oko 'we' ;
2pl yatu 0 'you' ,
3pl tatuma 0 'they'
j

TABLE 11: Free and bound subjective personal pronouns

The use of subjective IND PRO'S is exemplified in (146— 151)

below:

(146) warao ine namina -te

Warao I know NON—PAST j. 1
'I know Warao (I speak Warao)’

(147) ho ihi hobi —naka ta -n —a —e

water you drink NEB AUX sg PUNCT PAST
'You did not drink water'

(14B) aru tai nahoro —te

maniac he eat NON—PAST
'He eats manioc'

(149) osibu oko kona —te

morokoto we bring NON-PAST
(kind of
fish)
'We will bring morokoto'

(150) orobaka yatu war -a -e i

lie you speak PUNC PAST f
'You all said a lie' f
i
i
64
 ■t
H
;. (151) naku tatuma mi —a! —e
'> monkey they see PUNC PAST
1■ '<;« ’They saw a monkey’ !
t * i; " | . t, ; a " 'L !
'■i 1 S‘. 'I ■ H- ; ■: s l
iFrom the review of (146— 151), :the facts of importance about
Warao; .’subjective IND PRD’s' are: (i) they— if overtly espres-
sed--are placed immediately before verbs; i.e., they are
preverbal items, and (ii); they do not correlate with verb
morphemes for the marking’of agreement (the verbal suffix
number —na ’sg’ keeps identity with singular subjects— whether
pronobns i or! full nouns— but, its main function seems to be
that ;of helping to recover omitted subjects, particularly
those- vin; ; third singular person which are seldom uttered.
PjLural iisuibjects have zero marking).

Differently from subjective IND F'RO’s, subjective SUF PRQ’s

appear : onlyr „as closing morphemes within verbal suffixal
chains. The case ,is illustrated, in (152— 154) below
T
(152) wautai omi naru '—ki —tia —ine
Wauta without go INT HAB I
'! ’ll am igoing to see Waut'a as usual’

(153) i dimaii, , nabaka —kore wa ! eku

,
j ! ,, f|ather arrive.. COND canoe in (side)

naru —ki -tia -ihi '

go k INT HAB you
’jYou; are going inside the canoe as you usually do
i!f/when your father arrive’

(154) yatuia noboto -ma mi -naka ta -te -oka

you of child PL see NEB AUX NON-PAST we
(jl'it.'j; ’We do not see the children of you’

i Subjective SUF PRO’S as those in (152— 154) seem to be marked

structures intended for specific purposes, depending upon who
is speaking;, to whom the speech is addressed, the topic into
consideration arid the place ! and time of such a speech
co—occurrence. SUF PRO’S ar'fe typical in styles of conversation
used in Warao councils. Inilevery day life conversation, BUF
PRO’s! are hardly heard, if, ever. It is my opinion, that SUF
F'RO's.; ‘indeed i are variants of the subjective pre—verbal IND
P RO’S (that ’give the message in which appear a touch of
authority; associated, with the most elevated statuses of the
aidambtuma "chiefs’, individuals that often use this type of
pronominal realizations.
H I :f
i .^ , , k:' • _
1 The1 'set of object pronoUns in Warao also shows free and
bound; (prefixed) forms (Hereafter PREF PRO’s) as it can be

65
seen in TABLE 12:

IND PRO PREF PRO

lsg ma ma- m- 'm e '

2sg hi hi- h- ’you'
3sg tai 0 'him/her/it’

iPi ka ka- k- 'us'

2pl yatu 0 'y ou'
3pl tatuma 0 ’they’

TABLE 12: Free and bound objective personal pronouns

Objective IND PRO'S in Warao may -function as direct and

indirect objects, as well as obliques. Some of these functions
are shown in (155— 157)

DIRECT OBJECT
(155) a. na airamo deri -n -a -e
lsg.O chief advise sg PUNC PAST
(me)
’The chief advised m e ’

b. tai ine nahoro -naka ta -n —a -e

3sg.0 X eat NEB AUX sg PUNC PAST
(it)
'I did not eat it'

c. tatuma wanta mi —n —a -e
3p 1.0 Wauta see sg PUNC PAST
(them)
'Wauta saw them’

INDIRECT OBJECT
(156) a. ma saba tai rakoi sanuka
lsg.O to 35g.O sister smallness
(me) (it)

ribu -n —a —e
say sg PUNC PAST
'My little sister said it to me’

b. hi saba buratana ine kona —te

2sg.O for plantain I bring NON-PAST
(you)
'I bring plantain for you'

66
 :c.! ka saba hua mi — kitane nao —te
■- ! ipl.□ to Juan see INFINIT come NON-PAST
if. \ ' . . (us! (John;,
t ( i 1 ’John comes to see u s ’

, : ' ‘ ' OBLIQUE

(157) a. hatabu warao -tuma hata —n —a —e
! ! !i ; arrow Warao PL . spear sg PUNC PAST
r i ; > ; 1 !'
; : ■■; ! tatuma aisia domu waraa -tuma n -a —e
■■s : 3pl.O with bird Warao PL kill PUNC PAST
. ! > ! (them)
tt ’The Warao speared arrows. The Warao killed birds
; ■ ; with them’

b.; hi omi ine yaota —ki —tia

( 2sg.Q without I work INT HAB
: (you)
! ’I am going to work without you as usual’

Objective IND PRO’S such as exemplified in (155— 157) are

generally Introduced by postpositions.

Moreover, objective PREF PRO’S attach to verbs as the

leftmost morpheme within any possible prefixal chain. PREF
PRO’S often undergo morphological shortening depending upon
whether they are directly attached to c e r t a i n vowel initial
verb roots and other vowel initial verb prefixes (Warao does
not permit vowels of the same quality to come into contact).
The prefixation process and its implications is illustrated in
(158— 159) below

(15B) a. ma beroro —ira abu —bu —n —a —e

l lsg.O dog AUGM bite ITER sg PUNC PAST
(me >
‘The big dog bit me repeatedly’

b. 0 beroro -ira m- abu —bu —n —a -e

dog AUGM lsg.O bite ITER sg PUNC PAST
(me)
’The big dog bit me repeatedly’

(159) a. hi ine —witu e— namina —te

2sg.O I H.I. CAUS know NON-PAST
(you)
’I (no other) will teach (cause to know) you’

b. O ine —witu h— e- namina -te

I H.I. 2sg.D CAUS know NON-PAST
(you)
’I (no other) will teach (cause to know) you’

67
 i
i
Interrogative pronouns
f !
Such as in the case of interrogative determiners, there is
also only a general question word, sina ’who’, which
substitutes for animate nouns; and one, kasikaha ’what’, tohich
substitutes for inanimate nouns. i

Interrogative pronouns are always sentence initial; and

co-occur with the verb suffix —ra ’INTERROG', which is a
general question marker. An example is shown in 1160) |

(160) a. sina ma- yehe -bu -te -ra J,

who lsg.O shout ITER NON—PAST INTERROG j
'Who shouts at me insistently?’ j

b. kasikaha ihi ribu -a ~e -ra I

what you say PUNC PAST INTERROG j
'What did you say?’

In copulative sentences, very particularly in the equative

sun—type, which does not often have overt copulas , the
interragative pronouns— in the absence of tthe verb— attach
-ra 'INTERROG’ directly: j

(161) sina —ra tamahatuma ta 0 (

who INTERROG those from j
'From those, who is it?' 1
l

(162) kasikaha -ra tatuma -mo 0 ‘

what INTERROG these ABL !
’From these, what is it?’ ' j

23.4. Indefinite pronouns j

|:
Most indefinite determiners may be used as pronouns.
Indefinite pronouns represent the speech part of Warao( that
has the highest rate of occurrence in everyday life speech.
They are: i
\
<i ) isaka ’one’ 1
I

(162) isaka haka-n —a —e }

one flee sg PUNC PAST 1
’One fled’ l

68
 I ■

(i.i ) isaka isaka 'somebody' :

•i .;■-s;} ;. , (
t. i I;
(163) ; isaka isaka maretane .rekotu wara -te
someone gaiety song speak NON-PAST
'Someone sings gaily*'

Oiii); damana "somebody/something/a part (of something)'

!• ■ i : V Ij )■■ ■!; ' , ■ M-, l:

(164) ; damana. abono -te damana obono —naka

* ■ a p a r twant NON-PAST a ;part want NEB
[ , '.A t part (o-f the group) wants (but) a part (of the
group): doesn’t want to' j
i. : -j: f
(iv) damana: ramana 'f ew/li‘ttle'
^ — ; l:
I u. :;h . i,.
.
, i
(165) ; danlana-ramana naru -t'e ’h
fert go NON-PAST
s (lit.) 'Few go'
A, . v.-| i. ’■ ^ ;■
i ■•!-pi :■); M t
(v) daisa ’another one/other ,one'
;' 'i. ;. ' •■!: ;
(.166) daiaa ■ a tira oa' —n —a —e
other one of woman take away sg PUNC PAST
I ' •! (lit.) 'He took away the woman of other o n e ’
l ■i.,. ; ,, f.: I t I.

(vi) ; ekira .'nothing/none’

(; .!: . v i

(167); ine ekira ha ,, ,

I ■ nothing COP
’I 'have nothing'
t =M :I- . , • ~ if:
6 - ' ■* »i' • ''I, M I
(vi i > deko 'both'

Cl68) deko a. ha
i . -. both of hammock:
j Ji . (liit.) i 'The hammock of both'
. ■ ■ H ■; - if; I-
(viii) fk^vuka 'all' 1

0169)- irie kayuka ka ■

f • I 1 all he -ii i
'I ihave all (of something)
i . '4 - : \
t •' 'Vi U.
i :' M Mi :):■! !: 69 i
i'i
 <i>s) kpkotuka 'sveryonE/everything'

<170) kokotuka warao -tuma nahoro —te

everything Waraa PL eat NON—PAST
‘The Warao eat everthing'

24. ADVERBIALS

Adverbials is a heterogenous class comprising what might in

other languages be distinguished as adverbs, and including
also locative and time expressions. Adverbs are bound together
into one class on the grounds of their common function as
complement of copulative sentences and obliques (or adjuncts)
in any other sentence types. Adverbs constitute a relatively
large class covering a wide semantic range. They groupi (i)
general verb modifiers, and (ii) manner, location, time i and
quantity expressions.

24.1. General modifiers

These items and attributive nouns do not differ

morphologically. Their adverbial connotation is set up by the
relationship they hold with the verb to which they adjoin. For
example!

(172) dakobo rakobo hi- esemoi aisia asa

brother brother Isg.POS flute with badness

wara —ki —tia —ine

speak INT HAB I
'Brother, brother, I am going to play badly as usual
with your flute <if I play your flute)'

(173) tai hi saba yak —era ana ta —n —a -e

it you far goodness AUGM NEG happen sg PUNC PAST
(lit.) 'It happened not so well for you'

(1 7 4 ) amahatuma tae kubu —a —e

those yonder braveness fight PUNC PAST
'Those fought bravely’

70
 :24.2. Manner adverbs

i ^ i' -i ‘
Manner :is usually expressed by the pair tuatane ’thus' and
tuatane ana 'not thus" preceding verbs. This usage suggests an
extra pragmatic -force in the verb:

; (175), monida: ebe iwirinoko a iramo tuatane

sickness because of Wirinoko o-f chief thus

, .eicoro —n —a —e
’; ; finish' sg PIINC PAST
'.The chief of Wirinoko finished (died) thus because of
sickness'

(176) tuatane ana nana —naka ta —n —a —e

1 thus no do NEB AUX sg PUNC PAST
'He did not do (it) (not) thus'

Furthermore, manner may be denoted by the postposition tane

'manner/way of doing something’ attached to nouns, which gives
rise to postpositional phrases functioning as either comple­
ments in copulatives, or adjuncts in other types of sentences:

t(177)' irtare tane naru -Icotu

silence manner go 2pl.IMP
'You all, go silently!’

(178) ma- ha eku ine yak -era tane

lsg.POS hammock inside I goodness AUSM manner

uba -te
sleep NON-PAST
'I sleep very well (soundly) in my hammock'

(179) ihi tobe tane oko obono —bu —a -e

2sg.O jaguar manner we want ITER PUNC PAST
(lit.) 'We thought you (possess) the manners of a
jaguar', or
'We thought (that) you were like a jaguar'

Manner is also encoded by means of the privative

postposition omi 'PRIV or 'without' which is intended for
preventing the entity to which is attached from the effects of
the verb of the sentence, creating an opposite meaning:

71
 i
i

(180) dibu ami wara -n —te

word without speak sg NON—PAST j
(lit.) 'He speaks without words', or
'He is not much of a talker', or 1
'He is a laconic person' !
j
In (100) 5 dibu ami means that the speaker is deprived o-f | an
extensive vocabulary, which leads him to do things in jhis
particular manner. ,

Another example is offered in (1B1) |

!
(181) hotaraa a uka ka omi namina —te 1
non—Warao of son lpl.0 without know NON—PAST i
(lit.) 'The son of the criollo knows without us', or
'The son of the criollo already knows (by himself);
(and he does not needus) ’ |
i
In (181), ka omi indicates that in the manner of doing
things, there is a suppresion of the participation of some
previous participants. ,

24.3. Location adverbials

i
Adverbial location is expressed by either a small set, of
deictic locatives, or a large set Qf postpositional phrases,
or a few adverbs of place. ^

24.3.1. Deictic locatives *

The set of deictic locatives derives from the demonstrative

determiners outlined in TABLE 1. Such determiners attach ; the
local case markers, as in TABLE 13 I

(I) LOCATIVE

<i > Location in a point 1

tama —te 'here, in here' ‘
this LOG

ta —te 'there, in there' |

that LOC !
i
ama____ -te 'over there,
that yonder LOC in over there’

72
 I

I ./''fjj , I'
' ..(il) s Location by or near some other entity
i ■ •: j. I
j_:
tama -te 'f 1 ‘around here'
-a
1 this LOC LOG 1 1
\ : "'J ....
t.l "-4 ■i ta '!' -te -a. ‘around there'
{.; *S;| hil i that LOG LOG 1
\ ;w' ■
:
i;i ama ■ —te —a 'around over there'
that yonder LOG LOG
*> , *:n.-i ':
l .ti,i it:
<iii) ,j Location in a place where it encompasses
■entity or situation
m. :■ .r l
1 tama -ti ka ■ ! 'right here'
J -H
.•1'this LOC 1
1;. -I
.iitai., V -ti ka •. -L i 'right there'
i.| that l o c ;
i .;■'<] . .
ama : —tika1 'right over there'
i-r
.. r+

yonder LOG
-fu
•jr

1 *k
*r i
-

'{' r
(II) ABLATIVE;.
1: :-i'■ -i
1 if ^ !s*
j.tij,,(x Source from a place., where it encompasses the
i|entity or situation .

tama --tika —mo from right here'

.this LOC ABL
i }■ l:
1 v; . •-
W ■ --tika —mo ' \ from right there'
'that LOC ABL t |
;..... -ii
i ■ l -:;; t ,ama —tika —mo !■ from right over there
that yonder LOG ABL |
'1, i;

Cl 1 ) Source from any point j

i >*ji it
tama --te —mo " 1 from here'
|this L O G ABL '' '
; ■■. ti ■■
>,.i ■:)) ; ,lta . -te —mo i ■ from there'
'■ithat'! LOG ABL !:
t.i :M it. h - h , '!; |.
'
■1■
.:• *i‘iw■:>1) 1.;.■ ■ama .-te -imo 1 from over there’
.;|,that yonder ; LOG ABL j
! 1 ',:W■'■;
H .l «! 'V.
■t !■'>:-r^t Mi •: "1: i'
’'t:. i... ' !f; r
1i- : 73 !i;
 (Ill) ALLATIVE (directionality)

tatna -tika —va 'to right here'

this LOG ALL

ta -tika -va 'to right there' j

that LOC ALL

ama_______ —tika -va 'to right over there'

that yonder LOC ABL

TABLE 13: Deictic locatives

TABLE 13 shows that local meaning is expressed by the ;same

set of "general" local case markers of the language, with the
exception of —ti ka and ^a which seem to be pertinent to. the
deictic locatives. Also, TABLE 13 reveals that such local
markers may co-occur to increase the level of specificity of
the locatives, which makes them morphologically complex. :Some
examples of the usage of deictic locatives are presented in
(1B2-1B4)

(102) ine ta —te —mo nabak —a —e

I that LOC ABL arrive PUNC PAST
(from there)

ama a hokohi ine naru —naka

(to)day I go NEG
’I arrived from there (and) I do not go today’

(1B3) tana -te nao —u

this LOC come 2sg.IMP
’You, come here!'

(1B4) ine ta -isi kuhu —a —e ma— hanoko

I that DAT walk up PUNC PAST lsg.POS house
(to that one)

ta -tika aban -a —e
that LOC place PUNC PAST
(right there)
(lit.) 'I walked up to that one (any previously
mentioned place) (and) I placed my house right there'

74
 !
;24.3:2.' Locative postpositional phrases

j24.3.2.1. General location

i ' '■
! '■ ' !' 1 '■ 1
General; location is expressed by ata ’in/at‘. A quite
general locational (at a point) sense is involved, ata ’in/at’
refers to an event with no specified motion, i.e., even if a
change in; position is implied, this is not specified:

;
■ (185) wanu inabe ata ha
s |/ Juan. dense forest in :COP
i }[ . (John)
i , i. i ’John is deep! in the forest’

24.3.2.2. Superior position and surface contact location

-Bothj oh the surface and above the surface, are expressed by

arai 'on/over/top of/above’:

t ■ 1j ’
I (186) hanolco arai karina koita -te
house top of hen cackle NON-PAST
’The hen cackles on the top of the house*

;(187) ma— romu sarama rauna arai

'■ lsg.POS bird parakeet forest over

soto -n —a —e
disappear sg PUNC PAST
■ ’My parakeet disappeared (flew) over the tree tops’

arai ’on/over’ is also postposed to numerals to add them:

(188) dihanamo arai manamo arai isaka

’Three on/over two on/DVer one’, or
’Six’

,24.3.2.3. Motion past a long object (in contact with its

surface and in the direction of its length)

Motion past a long object in the direction of its length is

expressed by attaching the allative marker —ya
’to/through’— shortened sometimes as — (y)a ’to/through’— to

75
 I
l
I
the postposition arai 'on'. The derived postposition araia.
'along' denotes an entity moving along a sur-facE in contact
with its surface: !
I !
<189) hanoko a kuaikuhu araia mera narunoa -te i
house of trestle along lizzard go passing NDN-PAST
'The lizzard passes along the house's trestle' ■

f
(190) hana sanuka araia nabu -ru -ki -tia j
carlo smallness along paddle ITER INT HA8 f
'He is going paddling and paddling along the little
ca?io as usual ’ I

24.3.2.4. Descending motion I

|
Motion from any upper part in any direcion is meant by
suffixing the ablative marker —mo 'from' to the postposition
arai 'over/top of/above', giving rise to the composite araimo
'from the top/from above'. araimo 'from the top/from above'
implies an explicit reference to the place of departure.! The
place of destination may also be alluded. For example: .

(191) domu rau a waku arai -mo yahak -a -e |

bird tree of branch above ABL fly down PUNC PAST
(from above) 1

tai atono n -a -e iit

3sg.0 Antonia kill PUNC PAST I
(Anthony) I
(lit.) 'The bird flew down from above the branchep of
the tree (and) Anthony killed it when it was about to
1and' i

24.3.2.5. Inferior location f

f
i-
Inferior location is expressed by noika 'under': I
I-
(192) yaburukoina nnika mesi ha !
little wooden under cat COP j
bridge to have j
access to a
Warao house '
'The cat is under the bridge' i
}

76
 t noika. 'under'; may stiff ixii the allative marker -ya
'.to/through'• or the ablative marker -mo 'from' to derive
noikava 'to under' and noikamo j'from under'. Examples of each
case are shorn in (193— 194) respectively

(193) yaroko brito noika -ya naruhoa -ine

leaf; weakness under !'to go passing 1
' (falling leaves) (to under)
'I go^passing under! the falling leaves'

. (194) ha , noika —mo beroro ehoba —n —a —e

; . hammock under ABL dog ; come out sg RUNG PAST
j ■... ■ 'iThei dog tame out from under the hammock'
} ’(;■:! 'h' r. Hj j
,
v ! !i 4 ' ' ■. ,! ;
l 24.3.2J6. Proximate location

■i

:Prosimate location implies the placement of an entity or

situation with reference to another near-by entity. It is
expressed b y a w e r e ’near':
l
; . ’I; “t..if•'■ t > A '
j. ii-., ^ xi -j1.-,. -I,

' (195) fatifca —witu ha warunamu awere

i right there H. I. COP pole near
t 1 1 ’|(It) is right there, near the pole'
4 .H.ii h: M t, )
i! » r 'i. { ' m
■awere 'near' may suffix the allative suffix -ya 'ta/through'
to add a motion sense: ,

\ <196)' tabe awere -ya naru -naka -u

J i j-aguar near ALL gb 1NEG 2sg. IMP
'You* don't go near the jaguar!'
t' 5:* 1.S J-
t ;& 4 . Hl 1
i :
'H_ - *|. r<; i
24.3.2«j7« Exterior location

!-The^e ,is a. set of postpositions that places events and

situations in the village surroundings, generally outside the
dwellings-. From all those items' denoting external location in
such ?? environmental contexts, the most common ones ares yakara
'outside';, yakaramo ’-from* the outside' , yakarava 'to the

s.
77
 (
I
outside’, and vakarana 'in the outside'. Far example: j
j
(197) hanoko a yakara -mo haburi wauta 1
house o-f outside ABL Haburi Wauta

wara —n -a -e <
speak sg PUNC PAST i
'Wauta spoke to Haburi from outside the house'

(19B) aresatanoko a yakara —no rieko kotu —bu —te j

church of outside LOG Diego dance ITER NON—PAST
'Diego dances outside the church'

24.3.2.B. Interior location

Interior location is expressed by eku 'inside/within', ekuva

'to inside/into', and ekumo 'from inside':

(199) ma— uba eku wanu ma— anukamo

Isg.POS sleep inside Juan lsg.POS belongings
(John)

eris —a —e
steal PUNC PAST
'John stole my belongings. I (Mas) inside my sleep
(while I slept)'

(200) naba —era. eku —ya wayo obo —te

river AUBM inside ALL Wayo flow into NON-PAST
'Wayo (the name of a caffo) flows into the big river
(the Orinoco river)'

24.3.2.9. Lateral location

Lateral location is usually expressed by mukoho 'edge

of/side of' and mukohoya 'tD the edge of/to the side of':

(201) ma- raukaba a mukoho -ya naru -a -e

Isg.POS slashed of edge of ALL go PUNC PAST
field

raukaba sinar — ine

slashed measure I 1
field
'I went to the edges of my slashed field (and) I
measured my slashed field'

78
 24.3i2.10. A n t e r i o r location

, Anterior' location relating to a non-moving object is

expressed by ebi lea 'in ,-front of':

'■ (202) ma ebifca hi mi -kitane obono -naka

lsg.FOS. in front of you see INFINIT want NEB
i i ,Irdo ;not want to see you in front of me'

ebika 'in front of’ obligatorily attaches the ablative

marker, —mo 'from' if the entity referred to is moving in any
direction and it is not near the speaker:
■: 1/ ! '.■■! :
|. i•. i -i. i
(203? masi ma ebika -mo haka -n -a -e
1 i: deer lsg.O in front of from run sg PUNC PAST
: ’The deer ran passing in front of me (but, far)'

When the motion of something or somebody occurs in any

direction close to the speaker, ebika 'in front of’ suffixes
the allative marker -ya 'to/through':

(2045 ihi ma ebika —ya ha hanoko mi —komoni

i you lsg.POS in front of ALL COP house see NEB.POT
i 'You are moving in front of me (and) I cannot see the
house',

24.3.2.11. Remote location

Remote location is expressed by the fallowing set of adverbs

functioning as verb adjuncts: weba 'far/away', webamo 'from
far/from away', emo 'beyond',, emota 'from beyond’, itp
'distantly', and itgniD 'from distantly' :

(205) weba -ma nao -na -te

far ABL come sg NON—PAST
(from far)
'He comes from far (places)'

79
 24./ 12 P o s t e r i o r location

Posterior location relating to a non—moving object iis

expressed by the adverbs nokaba 'behind/rear/back , nokabaya
'to behind/to the rear/to the back of' and nokabamo '-from
behind/from the rear/-fram the back of': ,

(206) bubu nokaba -ya kokotuka naru -n -a -e 1

hill back ALL all go sg PUNC PAST j
(to the back o-f> t
'All went to the back o-f the hi 11 ‘
i-
j:
(207) hanokosebe nokaba —mo atona naru —n —a —e .
village behind ALL Antonio go sg PUNC PAST
(from behind)(Anthony) |
'Anthony went away from behind the village' j
l
Posterior location relating to a moving abject is expressed
by emova 'to beyond': i

1;
(208) emo -ya ka- nao -te }
beyond ALL lpl.O comeNON—PAST >
'He comes beyond us' j

24.3.2.13. Transversal location

Transversal location is expressed by the adverb kakayanuka

'across/fram here to the opposite side': j

(209) naba kakayanuka ka- hanofeo nona -kitane

river across Ipl.POS house build INFINIT

obono —te
want NON—PAST
'We want to build our house across the river'

24.4. Time adverbials

Periodization, or time division an the basis of natural

periods, is the only resource used in the Warao society 'for
expressing temporality. Of course, the Warao system ! is
S o m e w h a t :imprecise given the absence of the physical and
mathematical parameters inherent: to clock and calendar time
divisions, j:.The parameters used by the Warao to measure time
correlate wi th the movement*.; of the sun, the moon and some
stars; andjconstellations, aSj well as seasonal circumstances
linked to the environment, such as the Orinoco river annual
•flood, and the tidal fluctuations of the water levels in the
Orinoco Dellta. , ;j-

The basic time expressions in Waraa can be grouped into (i)

periods of* days, (ii) month 'and the passing of months, (iii)
year and the passing of years, (iv) proximate, remote and
punctual time and, (v) periphrastic legendary past adverbials.
■t i f'u.'i i l-
. i.., '■ i

24.4.1. Periods of day

■I:

24.4.’1.1., Daylight period

The terirl hokohi used to reefer to the period of feeling the

effects- of the sun: light and warm, is the basis of this
system:: hokohi means ’sun/day/daylight‘. The combinations of
hokohi.-.1! 'isun/day/dayl ight' with some postpositions, numerals
and, verb roots set up - stages along the daily passing of the
sun above ; the horizon, from,, east to west. Such periods are
shown in TABLE'14: ,

b i 't !', >

hokahi isabfit : (lit.) ''towards the sun' , or 'the !
y -• period before sunrise'
<■ -l, -- ' •
hokbhi iebika (lit.) ’just before sunrise' j
J ,* ]
Kakohi 'soro (lit.) I'thei sun appears' , or i
if i -rffljnrise/dawn'
V: V ■; I i i* i-
hokohi kuahasika (lit.) *sun in uppermost position',
i . ;. ■ or ’noon’

hokbhi va (lit.) 'along the sunlight period’,

; it i or "along the day'

hokbhi anakuarika (lit.) -'sunlight becomes dark', or

t ,| ;i : towards sunset', or 'at dusk'

hokohi:ianabako (lit.) -r'sun darkening is over' or 'the

sunrise of the next day’

hbkbhi !manan*o eku (lit.) 'in two suns', or 'in two days’
.L
TABLE 1*3: Daylight period1,stages
 i;

Some examples of the adverbial function of time items ■ i

reflecting stages nr paints during daylight periods are shown 1 ,,
in (210—211) below

(210) warao —tuma hokohi manamo eku bahi —n —a —e

Warao PL day two in return sg PUNC PAST
'The Warao returned passed two days’

(211) hokohi soro tatuma masi kub —a —e

at dawn they deer hunt PUNC PAST
'They hunted the deer at dawn'

24.4.1.2. Dark period

The basis for expressing periods of the night cycle is the

term ima 'darkness/night', which postposes a set of modifiers
to identify specific paints within the lapse of absence1 of
sunlight. The night periods are presented in TABLE 15:

-1
ima anakuarika (lit.) ’night becomes darker'j
or 'the dimmed light of
the sun extiguishes
totally', or 'early night' :
ima uto (lit.) 'center of the night’, -
or 'midnight'

ima utu sabuka (lit.) 'less than the center of

the night’, or 'before
midnight’

ima utu kuarika (lit.) 'more than the center of

the night’, or 'after
midnight'

ima iriraha (lit.) 'the entire night’

ima raitau (lit.) 'fresh night' , or the

coolest period of the
night approaching dawn'

ima hokahi awere (lit.) 'the sunlight is near

the darkness’, or 'dawn' ■•il

TABLE 15: Night period stages

i

82
 Some examples of adverbs referring to night stages are shown
in <212—213): ;

(212) ima iiriraha ine uba -naka

! night,entire I sleep NEB
'I,did not sleep all night long'

(213) ima ;utu kuarika tabs hobu -bu -a -e

j! night center more jaguar roar ITER pi INC PAST
'' (af ter midnight) 1 !
: i 'The jaguar roared after midnight’

24.4.2. Month and the passing of months

The term used for referring to the moon, waniku Cwani

'hide', eku 'inside'= the one that hides inside itself], is
extended in a temporal sense to the month. The passing of the
moon through its four phases, which covers a 2B day-period,
represents in terms of extension the nation under
consideration. As well, the occurrence of the moon phases
marks time paints used as reference for activities performed
by the'Warao. A summary of the time adverbs related to months
and month divisions is offered in TABLE 16:

1
:waniku (lit.) 'moon', or ’month'

!'wani ku ahokava (lit.) 'concentrated moon’, or ’the

i moon gets inside itself’ or
'the first quarter'

|wani ku hida (lit.) 'tender moon’, or 'new moon’

■wani ku kasi (lit.) 'growing moon', or 'the last !

quarter' j
\
! wanikuira (lit.) 'big moon', or 'full moon' !
1
1
1 TABLE 16: Month and month periods j

Some examples of these time expressions are presented in

(214—216) below:

(214) aro saba raukaba a waniku tai ha

arroi for slashed fields of month it COP
(rice)
"It is the month of slashed—fields for growing rice’

83
 t-

(215! faariraa —ya waniku isaka yahubu —tuma j

Barima ALL month one -fisherman PL '

naru —a —e ’
go PI INI) PAST j
'The -fishermen went to Barima for one month’ f
f
(216) aro a muwaniku ahoka -ya naitu -naka j
arroz of seed moon get in ALL plant NES .
(rice) (moon get inside, ,
or first quarter)
'He does not plant seeds of rice until the moon first
quarter’

24.4.3. Year and the passing of years I

i

Reference to years involves the seasonal behavior of, the

canos of the Orinoco Delta. The phrase ho ira literaly means
'water rise’, which is an adequate reference for the annual
big flood of the Orinoco, an event that is crucially—important
for the survival of the Warao. The dietary habits of the Warao
depend of the rising of the waters, when they gather crabs,
catch some nutritious seasonal fish, grow some kinds of edible
roots, and so on. It is common to hear among the Warao,
statements as the following one: ?
t

(217) ho ira mi -kore motana saba naru —kotu .

water AUSM see CQND blue crab for go 2pl.IMPj
(big flood) I
'When you see the big flood, go for blue crabs' j
!
ho ira ’big flood’ is the departing point to set up (one-
year— long periods, which is logically the lapse stretching
between two floods. Age is determined on the basis of' the
number of floods that have passed from the day of birth^, or
arrival, or making, etc. For example j

(218) ine hoira warao isaka ha

I big flood Warao one COP
’I am 20 years old’

ho ira also means ’rainy season’. It has to be taken f into

account that the overflow of the Orinoco river andf the
equatorial heavy rains coincide, reaching their peaks in
August, ho ira ’rainy season’ opposes to ina waha (lit.) ,’soil
dryness’ or ’dry season’. Both seasonal terms may be used, for
marking paints within a year period. For example: i
I
I
84
 t - v .,i- .v ' r
, (219) i(na waha ata ma— -j raukaba nona —te
dry season in Isg.POS slashed -field make NON-PAST
. ' 'I will prepare my slashed-field in the dry season'

* (220)':.iiha waha - a hotana uhu saba ini tatuma

' ’ !:dry season of start1 ba'sket for fiber they
'I
; I! I, .. j,
j > •i: naha T — bu —a —e l.
j ( .. l'ooki.for ,ITER PUNC PAST!
i ^ ,, 'iThe. looked for (palm) fiber for baskets at the start
of the dry season (or in December)'

(221) ho ira waha -kore oka naru —te

i ' ' rainy season dry COND' we go NON-PAST
■ ! (lit:) ‘We will go When1 the rainy season dries (or its
over)’ i

, Besides; counting years on, the. basis of succeeding floods of

the Orinoco. ,river, the Warao use the term kura 'star' to
signal some year activities, specially religious feasts, many
ojF which1 are no longer celebrated. Some of their ancestral
rites' a r e performed when the Pleiads rise on the horizon,
around 1mid-June. This astronomical event is traditionally
celebrated ver joyously: ,f !
■t

t (222)' mokomoko hido he -kore orikuare awere

I ‘ .i 1 star!smai1ness tender COR COND feast near
■;When the small staps (pr the Pleiads) are tender, the
fpast (is) near’

The stretch of time that the Pleiads lasts in passing

throught the'northern hemisphere skies, above the equator, is
known a^\ kdra isaka (lit)" ’thfe Pleiads one’ or 'one year'
(from mid-June to mid-ljay) .iThus, age may be also expressed as
in (223) [below j

i 1 :.»;i hi il'!-..:!■»■■ '!■ !

j (223). kura ; warao isaka ine ha
! . „j the Pleiads Warao one j I COP
i . .'I am 20 years old'

- 24.4.4j Proximate, remote1 and punctual time adverbials

-jBy using combinations of the noun ama 'moment/point' with

f :M " .j' ' . " !U

■ ' 85
postpositions, nouns and even other adverbs, Warao j has
developed a location—in-time scale expressing proximity; and
remoteness, which intersects with punctuality. All items
within this scale function as adverbials. They are listed in
TABLE 17: ,

(i ) PROXIMITY/PUNCTUAL PROXIMITY
(any time close to the present or within the present)

ama eku 'in this moment/at this point'

ama hase 'right in this moment'

1 ama saba 'towards/for this moment'

ama saba —mo 'from this moment o n ’

ABL i

ama ebe 'before this moment'

ama sabuka ta 'a little after this moment,'

ama a hokohi ata 'in this day'

ama a hokohi se 'right today'

ama a hokohi ana 'not today, but 1ater’

(ii) REMOTENESS/PUNCTUAL REMOTENESS

(any time far from the present)

ama u 'then'

ama u to 'right then’

TABLE 17: Proximate, remote and punctual time adverbs

Some examples of proximate, remote and punctual adverbials

are presented in (224-227) below

(224) ama ebe warao -tuma orikawa

moment before Warao PL feast

ab -a -e ama eku orikawa ekira

celebrate RUNG PAST moment in feast no
'The WaraD celebrated feasts until not ago. (There
are) no feasts now'

86
 (225) ama : u ihi ma— imasibu —a —e
then : you lsg.POS deceive PUNC F'AST
’You1deceived me then' 1

i (226) ama I eku raborabaka aisia mehokohi waraa

; moment in arrow •< with spirit Warao

hat -a -e
: i . spear RUNG PAST
; ’The Warao speared the spirit with an arrow in this
moment'
ii I. 1 5 i

’ (227) iama ; saba -mo naru -te

S i ■! moment -for ABL gD NON-PAST
; I (Tit.) 'I will go for this moment, from (it) on', or
'I will go any time from now’

i 24.4.’5. Periphrastic legendary past adverbials

l Also, Warao possesses nominals and postpositional phrases

functioning as adverbials which are used exclusively in pieces
of mythological narratives. Such time items usually describe
the state of affairs in a legend emphasizing on any particular
location and any specific moment by means of adverbial
periphrases. Some of them (at least, those that are recorded
in my data) are listed in TABLE IB;

warao a wahabara (lit.) 'at the beginning of the Warao

Warao of start people’, or 'at the beginning
of mankind’

oko ekira (lit.) 'we inexisted’, or 'when we did

we no not exist yet'

ka— ina hido (lit.) 'our land (was) tender’, or

lsg.POS land tender world (was) still new’

TABLE IB: Some periphrastic legendary past adverbials

 l
:
I
Three periphrastic legendary past adverbial contexts are
illustrated in (228—230) below

(228) warao a wahabara tamahatuma rauna akuahabari i

Warao of start those forest ree tops <■

eku ub -a —e |,
in sleep PUNC PAST i
'The Warao slept in tree tops in the -forest at the
beginning of mankind'

(229) namuma oka ekire. ka- ina -ya buretuma S

seeds we no Ipl.POS land ALL buzzards I
(to our land) ]

inaro -a —e ;
send down PUNC PAST j
,
'The buzzards (myth.) sent down seeds to our land when
we did not exist yet’

(230) ka- ina hido waraotuma ahako eku ■

lpl.POS land tender Warao cloud in ;

kuhu -a -e -yama '

live PUNC PAST BY HSY ;
'It is said (that) the Warao lived in the clouds! when
the world wasstill new' j
l
24.5. Quantity adverbs

In some specific roles, kuarika 'more' and vahoto fless’

have been considered as quantity determiners. However,1 they
and some other quantity items adjoin to verbs in an
adverb-like manner, to express fluctuation in amount, number,
degree, etc. Besides kuari ka 'more' and vahoto 'less' ■,
vorikahika 'equal' and monuka 'same' fit in this group! For
example: |
,
l
(231) kokotuka manuka nahora —a —e
al1 equal eat PUNC PAST '
'All of them ate equal (quantities of food)', orj
'All of them ate equally’

!
!§> (232) hobi ma ssba kuarika aban —u j
drink Ish -0 for more serve 2sg.IMP |
i
'You, serve more drink for m e ’, or j
'You, serve more for me' .
1

88
 •I

i 25.'' PaSTPOCITiaNB '!

1 Warao; 'has1 quite a rich set of postpositions. In this

language',' any syntactic relationship in which a nominal or a
noun is Involved requires the use of a postposition with that
nominal .or noun. Besides, the postpositions . contained in
manner, .time and place advertaials— as they are analyzed in
preceding sections— there 'i.are several other postpositions
whose) semantic functions :j express agentive, instrumental,
comitative, possessive, cause and benefactive.

: 25.-1. Agentive
i . ;'’i'M l ! i. X i
, " :■■. 'll i- : - V I
The; agentive postposition! ai si a ’b y ’ introduces the agent of
the passive constructions provided that the perfective aspect
marker —ha ’PERF’ is suffixed to the sentence main verb:
l ,*j H; , - 1- !
(233) hanoko ma aisia mona —i —ha
house lsg.O by make COMP PERF
. ’The'house (was) made by m e ’

; (234) hobo;■ ■ aisia reria -i —ha

i •!, ,i grandfather by advise COMP PERF
I ” (He/They) (was/wer'e) advised by the grandfather’

i 25.2.‘ Instrumental !

(,'
■ i ■). 'I':. ! ' - ii t
Instrumental marks something used in performing an action,
for; instance, a tool", a weapon, etc., even a body part used
instrumentally. It is expressed by means of the postposition
aisik'o.'!sometimes isiko, ’with/'in association with’:
; - ;: 1j. ■! 'r; I
(.235) warao masi n- -a ij.-e ( hataburu aisiko
I i Warao deer kill PUNC PAST arch and arrow with
t ;. • 'The War ao killed the deer with his arch and arrows'
i - !!, I I. l- ; -= r !
-i : i. x 'f i : ; ■■ 'i.i i.
(2j 6) ho ,bia —nu , anamu —ira isiko
1 ’ ' water fetch 2sg.IMP container AUBM with
:■ i ’ ’'You, fetch water with the big container!’i

i 'i, 1! ; 'i. 1 '1 I

, Negative instrumental is expressed by the postposition omi
’deprived of something, , Dr , someone’ or ’without’. omi
'deprived of someone, or something’ is one of the manner
postposi tions of the language.j omi 'deprived of someone, or
something' is inherently negative denoting the manner how the
action has tb.be performed:; |
 (237) ha bia -nu anamu — ira ami i
water fetch 2sg.IMP container AUGM without
'You, fetch water with something that is not the ; big
container (since it is lacking)!’ I

25.3. Comitative

Comitative is expressed by means of the postposition kaika

'in the companion o f ’ or 'with someone’. This postposition
conveys the comitative sense by indicating someone : in
association with which some entity was or is, or was or is
during the enactment of a situation. In the fallowing example,
the noun phrase in constituency with kai ka 'with someone'
represents someone the actor was in association with while
enacting the situation:

(23B) atono kaika oka naru -ki —tia

Antonio with we go INT HAB
(Anthony)
'We are going with Anthony as usual'

As well, the presence of kai ka 'with someone' may imply,that

the entity which it introduces is typically of higher status
than the one representing the partner, as in (239)

(239) bare fcaika warao orabakaya ha

father with Warao four COP
(priest)
'Four Warao are with the priest (they are under the
priest's responsibility)'

(239) reveals the kind of relationship that the Warao and

the missionaries keep, which is often one in which the
religious leaders are official authorities protecting the
natives.

25.4. Possession

Besides the possession markers of the language that may be

prefixed to any noun CSee 19.1.3, Warao has two postpositio­
nal mechanisms to express possession: (i) by means of the
genitive postposition a 'of' following the possessor within a
possessor—possessed N P . and (ii) by means of the genitive
postposition abitu 'of' following any noun.

90
 25.4.1.' a' :’of ’ possess!ves

. Possessive' noun phrases, in Iriarao arrange their possessor

constituent, before the possessed one. The possessor postposes
a ‘o f ’ to mark ownership. For example:

. (240) airamo a ribu aisiko nona —kunarae

* ' chief of word with do PAST INCH
'He began to do in association with the word of the
: chief' ‘

: (241) tai a wahibaka wanari -n -a —e

) i he of canoe sink ! sg PUNC PAST
’'The; canoe of his sank’,

i 25.4.2. abitu ’of’ possess!ves

1 abitu 'of* assigns the noun or pronoun it follows a status

of owner,' such as it is shoi*in in (242—244):

} (242) tai hanoko m- abitu ha

j j that house lsg.O of : COF-
■ (lit.) 'That house is of me', or
■ 'That house is mine'

j (243) hahe nisa -naka k- abitu ha

' paddle grab NES lpl.Q of COP
(lit.) '(You) do not grab the paddles. They are of
u s ’, or
' (You) do not grab he paddles. They are ours'

i (244), tai noboto atono abitu ha

that child Antonio of COP
(Anthony)
(lit.) 'That child is Anthony's (chi Id)'

There is an emphatic form to express possession which

implies the co—existence of the two genitive postpositions:

(245) hanokosebe abitu a iboma —ma rakotu

house of of girl PL song

yak —era wara -n —a —e

goodness AUG speak sg F’UNC PAST
'The girls of the village (no other girls) sang very
well'

91
 Cause

Cause is expressed by means of the postpositions ebe/kuare

'because o f ’: i

<246) hoa ebe muan -a -e kokotuka

witchcraft because of die PUNIC PAST ail
'All (of them) died because of witchcraft’

(246) hi- karamu kuare hi— rai t .

2sg.P0S standon foot because of 2sg-F'QS back j
i
ahera
ache I
'His back aches because of his (long periods of)
standing' j

25.6. Benefactive ,

I
Besides the inflectional process that adds the 'dative
(beneficiary) case markers —ma/— (i)si/—to 'to/for' to * nouns
CSee 19.3.3, there is another way to identify the beneficiary
of the verb action: this is by postposing saba 'to/far' to the
beneficiary of the transitive verb action. For example: i
1

(247) ma saba aru nisan —u

lsg.D for maniac buy 2sg.IMP
'You, buy maniac for me!'

(248) noboto —ma saba rihaba kona —te

child PL far sweet bring NON—PAST t
' (He) brings candies for the children' |
l
\
(249) hi— rani saba osibu haiha moa —u j
2sg.F0S mother to morokoto freshness give 2sgilMP
(kind of '
fish) |
'You, give fresh marokata tohis mother’ l

92
h*4f M T'.,:uf :■ [
3 ’" ■!:'v l; : : ’
26. VERB AND VERB PHRASE

i 2 6 . 1 Morphological structure of verbs

i .’:’t 4 :t. i; 4s -
The .(finite) verb inflects,for person, tense/aspect, mood
and number. Voice is expressed by means of a postposition.
f v. 1- i 'i *
; | Person markers are prefixai for (objective) PREF PRO’S and
suff ixal for (subjective) ;Sl!F T'RQ’s. These are optional though
iCSe'e '23.2.3 Tense/aspect, mood and number markers are all
'siiffixai. ’■ ’■ '

26.1.1. Voice and other; valency-changing categories:

Ht -'( j. T- passives and causatives
'!■
Apart from the morphologically unmarked active voice, there
iis at; least a voice farm denoting passive which, as expected,
decreases verbal valency/ In'passives, the verb may lose an
'argument: that one corresponding to any unspecified underlying
•transit!ve Subject. !
i ' ... ;t- ’.j,; . . :■ t. i
V ’iWarao!passives use the agentive postposition aisia ’AGEN’ to
*intrraduce :the underlying .transitive subject coupled with the
jsuffiikation ,of;the completive past tense and the perfective
.aspect markers to the verb. The underlying transitive subject
.df ..passives may not be specified provided a co-referential
.antecedent exists. In cases of unspecified agency, the
[postposition aisia ’ABEN’ remains. This process is shown in
;(250-255) ; ' "
W. ( ;; '!■ !
PASSIVE
(250)ika— ina kokotukc rihawaratuma aisia
.lpl.POS: land all ancestors AGEN

■ '!
i nona -i j -ha ,r .
make. COMP PERF
(lit.) ’All in our land was made by our ancestors'
r.
ACTIVE - ,
U 2 5 D 1dihawaratuma ka— ina kokotuka non —a —e
ancestors lpl.POS land all make F'UNC PAST
’Our ancestors made all in our land’

. Under i.co-referential ity .with an antecedent in the string of

■discourse., dihawaratuma ’ancestors’ in (250) may be left out,
'as shown in (252)
; ■i:
■ ■!' T ij-
'(252) ka- ina kokotuka'aisia nana —i —ha
lpl.FOO land all ;■ lAGEN make COMP PERF
i- All in our land was made by (our ancestors)
■’

93
1 : ?'■•
/ Causative forms are derived from both intransitives and
I transitives with the help of the marker e^ 'CAUS'J The
prefikation process in intransitives is illustrated' in
(253—254) below
f
i
NQN-CAUSATIVE
(253) tira isaka wab -a -e (
§
!fe
woman one die PUNC PAST
'A woman died’

CAUSATIVE
If (254) tira isaka tobe i- wab -a -e
woman one jaguar CAUS die PUNC PAST
'The jaguar cause the woman to die', or
'The jaguar killed the woman'

One of the implications of the attaching at the causative

prefix in (254) is an increasing of valency in the form of the
causer tobe 'jaguar' which is an additional verb argument,
lacking in the non-causative counterpart. In causatives ; from
intransitives the causes always fills the direct object slot.

In the case of transitives, the causation process operates

as follows

NOW-CAliSA TIVE
(255) muhukarare wisiratu temoi —a —e
group of bones shaman insufflate PUNC PAST
(skeleton)
'The shaman insufflated the skeleton'

CAUSATIVE
(25(b) muhukarare saba wisiratu e— temoi —u
group of bones for wisiratu CAUS insufflate Ssg.IMP
(skeleton)
'You, cause the shaman to insufflate the skeleton!'

In transitive causatives, the causee fills the indirect

object slot introduced by either the dative postposition saba
'to/for', or the dative case marker —ma 'to/for', as shown in
(257)

(257) wahabu —ma bare —tira

venison DAT father female
(nun)

ka e- nahnro -a —e
lpl.O CAUS eat PUNC PAST
'The nuns made us eat venison'

94
 26. 1.2. tense/aspect and M o d

Terise/aspecf and mood intersect closely in Warao; thus,

there 'are no independent paradigms -for each o-f such verb
categories. -This matter ha's been approached -from a semantic
perspective considering the internal constituency o-f each
situation. ; 1

!■■■■■.-I .. : i

26.1.2.1. Tense

To account for Warao verb tenses, a major splitting between

PAST a n d !NON-PAST suffices.

■ The term PAST is obvious enough since it means "anterior to

the moment : of speaking", or "looked back on", or
"recollected”, or "recalled” from the moment of speaking. The
term,: WON-PAST makes sense in terms of the semantic potential
of the tense category in Warao, a language which besides
referring to past and recalled events, with equal ease refers
to current or subsequent ones.

i“ ■ .i■
!
' 26. I1.'2.'1. 1. Past tense

! Time previous to time of speaking is indicated by means of

two .suffixes: (i) which is completive and correlates with
the perfective aspect, and (ii) ^e. which runs with the
imperfective aspect, and it is inherently punctual: ’PAST’
and —n(a) ’PUNC’ always cluster. Further distinctions such as
proximity and remoteness are expressed externally, i.e.,
outside the verb inflectional system, by means of time adverbs
and constructions indicating location in time. Examples are
provided all throughout this research.

26.1.2.1.2. Non-past tense

The non-past marker -te ’NON—PAST’ is used with reference to

present (currency) and future (subsequency) without any formal
distinction between them. Also, -te ’NON-PAST’ is inherently
imperfective, which is inferred from its possible association
with the imperfective punctuality aspect marker -a 'PUNC'. The
non-past tense marker is incompatible with the completive
(inherently perfective) aspect marker of the language:

95
 t
I

(25B) hi- rahe ka nokaba -ya aru !

lsg.F'OS brother lpl.O back of ALL manioc ,

yahar —a —te '

carry PUNC NON-PAST i
'Your brother carries the manioc coming to the back of
us ’ ■
l

Non—past tense adds an element o-f uncertainty since ;a

distinction between "an event in progress”, "a regular
practice" and "an event to take place later", all encoded by
-te 'NON—PAST', is not likely to be captured directly from it;
the precision in meaning being determined only by contents.
Far example, (259) may render three meanings: I
i
(259) warao isaka wiri —n —a —te ■
Warao one navigates sg PUNC NON—PAST !
'A Warao navigates (in this moment)', or
'A Warao navigates (as a regular practice)', or « >.
'A Warao will navigate (upon someone's request)'i

26.1.2.2. Aspect j
!.
The language exhibits a broad distinction between perfective
and imperfective. t
l
* ii
f
26.1.2.2.1. Perfective aspect i

Unlike prototypical perfectives in which actions are viewed j

in their entirety (including beginning and end), Warao j
perfective actions emphasize on their termination1, or
completion. The perfective aspect in Warao, for any practical
purpose, may be viewed as terminative. It is used only* with i
past time reference which is evidenced from its exclusive i
association with the completive past marker ^i. 'COMF", 'always
preceding the perfective marker —ha 'PERF'. For example l

(260) hotarao naru -i —ha ka e- Sana -ira j

non—Warao go COMP PERF lpl.O CAUS sadness STAT ;
(be sad) !
(lit.) 'The non-Warao (or criolla) already gone has '
caused us to be sad’ i
;■ I: I
I ;

96
 %

(261) wahibaka naru —i ■ha1 mi —kitane nao —kotu

canoe go COMP PERF see INFINIT come 2pl.IMP
(lit.,) 'You all, come to see the canoe that has gone

V .1 i ''
! ■l„ .. M; |
16.1.2.2.2. Imperfective;aspect

.The Warao imperfective aspect views actions in the course o-f

their occurrences, somehere between their beginning and end.
Tmperfectives in Warao are inherently punctual, which is
supported by the -fact thattthe1aspectual punctuality marker
PLINC' often :fol lows other,) aspectual suffixes having imperfec-
tivei implications, such .j...as ;the continuative, inchoative,
intentional/unintentional, momentative and iterative. All of
J:hese .aspects may intersect with past and/or non-past tenses.

26. 1. J.2.1. Continuative aSpect

* The imperfective continuative aspect marker —ne 'CONT'

refers to (actions that take1 place without letting up Dr
stopping), to.l rest. For example:
5' *
i :Jk \
i(262) benitiko a wa
A Beni to
so j. —ne
of canoe navigate CONT
'Benito’s canoe keeps on navigating'

The contiriuative aspect marker seldom comes along with any

overt ' tense marker, -ne 'CONT1' is often understood as being
inherently 1non—past: . If —1he 'CONT' is used with a past time
reference, the punctual aspect; marker ra 'PUNC' and the past
tense marker ^e 'PAST' are attached to the auxiliary verb ta
i'AUX.',* as exemplified in (263)i.
-

(263) waukutu i— nare . — ira ne ta —n —a —e

Waukutu CAUB silence STAT CONT AUX sg PUNC PAST
(be silent)
'Waukutu was caused to1be silent'

26. i.: .2. Inchoative, aspect

The Inchoative aspect expresses the beginning of an action.

Inchoative, punctual aspect and past tense markers overlap
giving rise to the composite form -kunairi —a -e (INCH + PUNC
+ . F'ASTf, ’PAST INCH'. The non—past inchoative counterpart
—kuna 'NON-PAST -INCH':

97
 (264) naha ebo —kore ins ma— naukamo namu — kuna !
rain fall COND X lsg.POS corn plant NON-PASTiINCH
’I begin to plant my corn if/when it rains’ i

(265) mokomoko kokotuka teribunoko nao -kunarae ;

little children all school come PAST INCH
'All of the little children began to come to school’
i

26.1.2,2.2.3. Intentional/unintentional aspect \

The intentional aspect expresses the determination to act in

a particular manner or with a specific purpose. The
intentional aspect marker -ki ’INT’ clusters with the habitual
aspect suffix -tia 'HAB*. -ki 'INT' + -tia 'HAB' assigns the
verb a sense of subsequency (or futurity, or reference to an
event that has not taken place yet).

(266) tamatikamo bahe -ki —tia

from here return INT HAB
'We are going to return from here as usual

(267) m- aufca ihi ma omi

lsg.POS child you lsg.O without

yaburu -ki -tia ta -ra

climb INT HAB AUX INTERROG
'My child, are you going to climb without me?'

It is worth noting that the habitual aspect marker -tia

'HAS' never appears in association with other aspect, tense or
mood markers, Also, it is not adjacent to verb roots. Its
usage seems to be restricted to enhance the idea of
intentionality.

On the other hand, the unintentional aspect marker — ka

’UNINT' attracts the past tense marker ^e 'PAST' to mean the
unintended effects (often occurred accidentally) of already
passed events:

(26B) wahibaka isiko wanari — ka -n -a -e

canoe one sink UNINT sg PUNC PAST
'The canoe sank accidentally (its turning upside down
was unintended)'

98
 26. 1.2i 2. 2.4. Punctual/semelfactive aspect

. The -form for punctuality, 'RUNG’, as a rule, denotes a

short- duration of an action. ’RUNG' has semelfactive
overtones suggesting an action done in one attempt (it may
also., be] explained as expressing lack of iteration). The
punctual| aspect easily occurs with motion verbs or verbs
implyingjmovement. With such verbs, 'RUNG' is figuratively
understood as,instantaneous. Punctual aspect is used with past
and non-past time reference:

j ‘ PUNCTUAL PAST M |
. (269) naba -ya ine naru i-n -a -e
' , ■!; river ALL I go .■ sg PUNCPAST
f; - *I went to the river for an instant'

I. ■ 1 >.
; PUNCTUAL NON-PAST
» (270) oko tamatika -ya bahi -a -te
j we right here ALL return PUNC NON-PAST
1 'We return to right here in a short while’

, - SEMELFACTIVE *
■ (271) ma- rima rau kaba -n -a —e
i ■ lsg.POS father tree cut sg F'UNC PAST
; , ... ’My mother cut the bush with a single blow’

26.1.2.2.2.5. Iterative/usitative/frequentative aspects

There is a highly variable interpretation for the verb

morphology which indicates iteration or ’repetition a second
time or more’. Such iteration is expressed in the language by
means of the aspectual suffix —bu ’ITER’. For example:

GENERIC
(272) tai boro —bu —te
He punch holes ITER NON-PAST
’He punches holes (to extract palm heart) repeatedly’

(272) could imply some additional information, such as the

following; ’he punches many holes many times’, or ’he punches
just one hole many times, deepening it’, or ’he punches many
holes one time each’, and even other interpretations. Thus, it
might be said that —bu ’ITER’ is a quite generic iterative
marker whose meaning must be precise contextually.

99
?ii [

Tq such a generic meaning, usitative and frequentative

interpretations may be added. bu USIT and bu FREQ
interact heavily with past and non-past time references j

USITATIVE I
(273) nohoto —tore dauina —mo tai i
grow COND dense forest ABL he

noha —bu —a —e j
fear USIT PUNC PAST
'He used to fear the dense forest when he was growing;

FREQUENTATIVE
(274) nobotoma rihabera nahoro -bu -te
children sweet eat FREQ NON—PAST
'The children frequently eat candies'

l
26.1.2.3. Mood

f' '■ v(
There are at least five mood distinctions in the Warao Verb
inflectional system: the indicative— which is morphologically
unmarked— conditional, imperative, potential and optative.! i

26.1.2.3.1. Conditional mood

Conditionality is expressed by the suffix -kore 'COND'. 'This 1

introduces the embedded clause in hypotactically-related f
constructions conveying senses translated as 'if/when'. ,
Distinctions between such two senses are dependent j on ■
tense/aspect features present in the main verb of the whole i
construction: , i

(275) wautakora koita —kore naha ehoru —te , ,

pigeon chirp CQND rain fall NON—PAST
(lit.) 'If pigeons chirp, it rains' 1
I ' 8

(276) danituma naoya —kore ebika —mo karik.ari f

mothers arrive COND in front of ABL karikari j 1
(kind of | i
bird) | j
koita -n -a -e !
chirp sg PUNC PAST ! ■
'When the mothers arrived, the karikari chirped in
front of her'

100 I-
t
 :2£>. 1.2. 3.2. I mperative mood

The imperative' mood is expressed primarily by the set a-f

verb B u f f ixes — (n)u ’2sg.IMP’ and -kotu ’2pl.IMP’, which have
a positive command value: :j

; (277). nabaria -u 1:
sit down 2sg. IMP ^
.„ ,s 'You, sit:down! ’

<278) naa -kbtu

.. come ;2pl. IMP
'You all, come!'

(Negative commands -fallow the pattern of all negati ve

.sentences1,, in which; the negative marker ;■naka 'NEB' is
suffixed -to the verb root:

<279) riabana —naka

sit down NEG 2sg.IMP
'You, do hot sit down!
’i;
%■ '-V ' *U
ft <290) nan —naka —kotu
wI 1 f 'come NEB 2pl.IMP ;
■i . m 'You (all, do not come!
I |v-f I

(The,above examples contain the only specifically imperative

form ’in ;Warao. However, when there is a command to do
something:as a routine obligation or duty, the auxiliary verb
it I >!5; ,tA AUX’.:postceding the main verb in the continuative aspect
takes'the1command markers. Within this context, the imperative
exhibits bbligative/debitive overtones:

- -3K '
<281) aru !,:namu -ne ta — u l-
manioc: plant CDNT AUX lsg.IMF
’You had better keep planting manioc'

(282) tukubita ^ya naru —ne ■ ta —kotu

3 || 'Tucupita : ALL go CQNT AUX 2pl.IMP
’ 'You better go to Tiicupita'

j26. 1.2. 3, 3.1 Potential mood

i 't 'h. ' i " ■- i,
i-komo 'POT', is one special farm for expressing potential
# ?
'jii i
'i 101!
mood, which is an equivalent tor ’can/able to': i

(283) he nahobu -komo nebu koho —ya

crab -find FOT young man river mouth ALL j

naru -a -e
go PUNC PAST !
'The young men went to the river mouth. They tan
find crabs (there)'

The negative counterpart of the positive potential mood

marker -komo 'POT' is —komoni ’NEG POT':

(2B4) ine naru -komoni hue ma nati -n -a -e

1 go NEG POT ray lsg.POS hurt sg PUNC PAST
'I cannot work. A ray hurt me'

(285) oka yaata -komani

we work NEB POT
'We cannot work’

26.1.2.3.4. Optaive mood

The optative is indicated by means of the suffix —turn

'OPT', which suggests wishes that may get fulfilled or remain
unfulfilled: j

(286) kakayanuka wahibaka kona —u

across the river canoe take 2sg.IMP i

haburi nao -turu

Haburi come OPT
'You, Take the canoe across the river!. Haburi wants
to come'

The optative may imply a counterfactual situation in which

-turu 'OPT' behaves as a sort of desiderative:

(287) hanoko boroma mi —turu hanakosebe oka

house sheet of see OPT vi11a g e we
metal

mi -nafca t -a —e
see NEG AUX PUNC PAST
(lit.) 'We have never see a village (we have never been
in one). We wish to see a barrack (a house with a tin
roof)'

102
$ -r
.1

jj 26.1.2i4ii. Number . ■ ■.

.j , Number : is suffixed to verbs, immediately next to the main

.j verb root, unless an aspect marker or negation marker is
\ present). Number markers set up an agreement with the person
3 of ■the; subject of the sentence. The verb number suffixes are
f —n(a? *s o ’ and 0 ’p i ’. Subject number referencing on the
| verb - operates as a meaning preserving mechanism since sub-
< jects, particularly thiPd person ones, are often left out
* under co-referentiality (usually extra-sentential):
■
i ■’ | | , . |

j (2BS) ;a. uku aisiko tai yaba -na -te

,j ; : ' (! angling line with he fish sg NON-PAST
j 'He fishes with an angling line’

1 -1 ! b. ukuT aisiko yaba -na -te

| 'angiing line with ' fish sg NON-PAST
j . "He fishes with an angling line’

■ In (288b), which shows an elided subject, -na ‘s g ’ signals

that just one person performs the action meant by the verb.
The number marked in vabanate 'he fishes' has its referent
,i outside, the sentence.
| : ! . ' S ' j' "
1 ' 2<h. 1.2.5. Auxiliary verb

S ta. 'AUX' introduces a set of modifications into the verb. It

itconveys1primary meanings of the predication when the chain o-f
| verb inflections breaks by the attaching of some mood, aspect
I and, negation markers. For example, the negation marker -naka
j'NEG' is a closing morpheme, that is to say, no further
,suffixes may follow it. Then when negation is encoded in the
main verb, the auxiliary verb follows it serving as a locus
! fur, the indication of tense, aspect and even interrogation.

? The command markers - (n) u. '2sg.IMP' and —kotu ’2pl.IMP’,

! which often suffix directly to main verbs, gain a debitive
! connotation when attached to the auxiliary following a m a i n
* verb in the continuative aspects

IMPERATIVE REQUEST (sg)

(289) a. temoyo -u
stay 2sg.IMP
'You, stay!’

DEBITIVE (sg)
b. temoyo -ne ta -u
stay CONT AUX 2sg.IMP
'You better keep staying'

103
 IMPERATIVE REQUEST (pi)
(290) a. yaru —kotu
come in 2pl-IMP
'You, come i n !’
!
i
DEBITIVE (pi)
b. yaru -ne ta -kotu
come in CONT AUX 2pl.IMP
'You all better keep coming in'
f

The potential mood markers -komo 'POT' and -komoni 'NEG F'DT’
do not directly suffix tense and/or aspect morphemes, but the
latter rather get attached to the auxiliary ta 'AUX', such! as
shown in (291) !

(291) masi hata —komoni ta —n —a —e

deer spear NEG POT AUX sg F'UNC PAST
’He could not spear the deer*

(292) iboma-ma naru -kore Dko yori- moho i

girlF'L go COND we REC bands

oa -komoni ta —te !
hold NEG POT AUX NON-PAST ,
(lit.) 'If the girls go (away), we cannot hold our
hands mutually', or 1
'If the girls go iaway) we cannot marry’
i
(293) ma romu i— bahu —komo ta —te i
lsg.POS bird CAUS get over POTAUX NON-PAST i
’He can cause our bi rd to get over’

For questioning in the potential mood, the interrogative

marker —ra 'INTERROG' is suffixed to the auxiliary ta. ’AUX’1as
a closing morpheme: !

(294) wiri — komoni ta —ki —tia —ra I

paddle NEG POT AUX INT H A B INTERROG i
'Is he going to be unable to paddle as usual’ f

i
I
The behavior shown by the potential mood markers as sketched
in the preceding contrasts with that one of the remaining mood
markers which may take inflections directly suffixing them,! or
suffixing them to the auxiliary, in an alternative manner, t
l
I
104
 I=

SECTION FOUR: PHONOLOGY AND PHQNOTACTICS

i. ■i. ],
27. PHONOLOGY

's
27. 1. Phoneme inventory
l ?,j. . |;- i. j
27. 111'. Consonants

Warao has eleven consonant phonemes, as shown in TABLE 19

below::" • :!
;3

i; . :i: bilabial alveolar palatal velar glottal

stops | , , P t j. k kw

fricatives •! s •
' h

flap' '■ ’i r )

.nasals; ... m :• ;r n :
:f
I
r ,semir-cbns J w 'i, i y
33I
h i
: .TABLE ,19: ,Consonants

Consonant phonemes are shown to contrast in identical and

overlapping environments by the examples in {295)

,.,t t (275): a y INITIAL POSITION

« "I1
:STOPS FRICATIVES

oahi ’-front of leg' hahi ’untie'

tahi a step' saha ’kind of bat'
'" ■ ij kahi 'slip' ;!
^ '' kMahi "'head top'
i
t, ; FLAP - t j NASALS
j,j rahi: 'kind of bee' j mahi ’1iver'
:?:■ :C. . 1: I nahi 'kind of fish'
% - ■■ i l

SEMI-CONSONANTS :

{wahi "canoe' ;j |
3 ;'V“ 11 vahi 'lie down’ 1 1
'1■ ; i.
I ‘ T j
::v . . . . . . . ,j i
■if t.. . "• i ,105 i
i :S- 1 •^
 b. MEDIAL POSITION

STOPS FRICATIVES

ebe 'because ehe 'piranha' :

etere 'belI * esi 'put away'
eku 'in’
ekwaka '-fan'

FLAP NASALS

ereta '-fear' emi ’show'

eneru 'dig' i

SEMI-CONSONANTS

ewehi 'grate'
evene 'river fork

27.1.2. Vowels

Warao has five vowels, as shown in TABLE 20 below:

front central back

high i u

mi d e a

low a

TABLE 20: Vowels

The vowel phonemes contrast in identical or overlapping

environments, as shown in (296)

(296) a. INITTIAL AND FINAL POSITION

aha cigar
ehe 'piranha'
ihi 'hot'
oho 'cough'
uhu ’basket’

b. MEDIAL AND FINAL POSITION

haka grass
heke ’hoarse'
hi kiri 'a fly'
hoko 'white'
huku 'bad smell'

106
 I
,
%1
‘27.2. Phonetic realizations of the phonemes
%
i'.- \
■<
!
-t ’ 27.2. 1 Consonants 1

&
4) 4Warao consonant phonemes show both voiced and voiceless
allophones. The set of consonant allophones is shown in (297)

■ •.-
1 ■
;•' •(297)
. STOPS FRICATIVES
S ■ i
1 / p / - - - - - - - - - ;— > C p 3E b 3 / h / --------> Chi
I '.
1 “■ ! > t / ------ 1
— > ct'i /s / ------ > Cs 1
f : ;: / k / --------- — > C k 3
/kw / ------ > Ckw 3
i ''i ':

FLAP NASALS

Jr/ ------ — > Cd3Cr3 /m / ------ > Cm3

/ n / -------> C n 3

SEMI-CONSONANTS

/w / ----- — > Cw3

/ y / --------> Cy3

Voiced ; allophanes in the language are mostly found in word

initial , position; in other cases, they appear intei—
vocalically. However, not all word—initial consonants are
voiced and there are differences in the frequency of voiceless
allophones. For example, Cb3Cp3 may be said to be almost in
free variation i n most word positions. It is common to hear
Cpotapotdl ar Cbotobotal. But, Cb3 will tend to appear in
Spanish loans, whether they contain /p/ or /b/ stops, for
instance, Spanish pelota 'ball* borrows as Warao berota.
cambiar ’change' as kabiata and barco 'ship' as baroko. Among
the speakers of the area under research for this dissertation,
initial Cp3 is found in a very reduced set of lexical items,
for example, [payaral 'kind of fish' which never was heard
with the voiced stop. In Warao, Cp3 and Cb3 are unaspirated as
all remaining stops,

On the other hand, the J r / allophones Cd3Cr3 occur in quite

specific phonological environments: (i) Cd3 always appears
initially, and (ii) Cr3 is always intervocalic. In Warao, the
Cr3 variant has the highest frequency of occurrence given the
fact that to the extensive native lexicon containing such
allaphonic realization, Spanish loans including initial or
medial /r//l/ and /d/, medial J r / and medial clusters such as
/dr/ must also be incorporated. Some examples are presented in
(298)
f
i
107
 (29 B) SPANISH WAR A O | :' f

deber ere b e 'owe' 1

barril bariri 'vat' t ■
:-
1 imtSn a r i m o n a 'lemon' ,
■fiscal bisikari 'fiscal' f ■ !•
bala bara 'pellot' t
o 6 1 var a b o r o b o r a 'nun u o w d e r ‘ j
Ped r o ber o 'Peter' , k

Warao semi —consonants /w/ and /y/, given their inherent

nan—syl1abi c ■feature, are always initial segments of
diphthongs and triphthongs. These phonemes contrast with
syllabic /u/ and /i/, as shown in the pairs in (299-301)

* • I.
i
(299) a. iabu 'abandon'
b. vabu 'chase'

(300) a. iasi 'smash'

b. vasi 'hat'

(301) a. ua 'kind of -fish

b. wa 'canoe'
i
f (i
The rest af the Warao consonant phonemes and f their
allophones exhibit a quite predictable behavior -from the
universal existing phonological theory. ,

27.2.2. Vowels f ^ 'f

i. «:
t:
The set a-f vowel allophones in Warao is as -follows inf (302) ’
below t ' 11
i: 1
f
(302) / i / ----> C U j.
/ e/ ----> Cel i;
/ a / ----> ra i
‘-aj i
■
i'
/ □ / ----> Col !
/ u / ----> Cul j ’ 'f
|
These vowels are all oral, being CilCelCal
unrounded and
ColCul rounded. k t\
!' i‘ H
Nasalization in the vowels and the semi-consonants CwlCyH,
as well as the glottal fricative Chi, is a ■'
phonologically-conditioned process, depending upon the
presence of a preceding nasal consonant, as illustrated in
(303) |
I: L.

108'
i

303),; Cmfiaul ? ’You, give ■(it)

j Cnaol J ’come' !:
•- '' Cmoyo] 'kind of bird’
> i Cinawahal ’dry season'

S Si-hi :>■ p •: ‘ P )-
i A nasalized string in w e r a a i s interrupted by any non—nasal
consonant. For example: ,,,

304) jCmehokohi3 ’shadow’

- Cnaotel ’come/will1come’

PHONOTACTICS

'Roots,in iWarao almost always begin with a consonant and end

with a vowel. The -first tendency is the strongest, and indeed,
the!! number of vowel initial roots, by dictionary count, is
reduced' ab ;compared with those of consonant initial ones.
Consonants i never cluster in Warao and are forbidden in
syllable final position, a trait that is evidenced also in
Spanish loans containing syllables ending in a consonant,
which'- in Warao undergo deletion or rising of an epenthetical
subsequent vowel, as (305); exemplifies:

,(305) ! SPANISH WARAO

1 ."
arris aro rice
carta karata ’letter'
bobernador: kobenahoro 'governor'

Conversely, vowels can cluster forming roots of up to four

i,segments, provided that not two of the same quality get into
-direct -contact.; ,

rThe behavior of consonants and vowels as far as the

possibilities of their ;combination is concerned leads to
conclude that the basic syllable types in Warao are (C)V, in
which the'vowel is a nucleous which a consonant may, or may
riot'll precede, either rootirinitially, medially or finally. The
possible CV combinations in Warao are presented in TABLE 21

109
 i e a □ u

— pe pa po — ,
p
b bi be ba bo bu

t ti te ta to tu

k ki ke ka ko ku

kw fcw i fcwe kw a kwo —

s si se sa so su*

h hi he ha ho hu

d di** de** da** do** du**

r ri*** re*** ra^* ro*** ru***

m mi me ma mo mu

a ni ne na no nu

w wi we wa — —

y
— ye ya ya yu

TABLE 21: root- initial, root -medial and root—final CV

combi nati one
KEY: * not obse r v e d r o o t — finally
** on l y r o o t — init i a l l y
** * onl y r o o t - m e d i a l 1 y and r o o t - f i n a l 1y

110
 'Additionally, the possible V-syllable sequences in Warao are
summarized in TABLE 22 below:

, --- --------------------; : -]
!;
■ '.J )
i i. e a Q u

ei; ai ai ui
ie — ae QB ue
ia ea — aa ua
io ; eb ao — —

iu 6U au ou —

ia i eai — □ai U5l

iae eae —— □ae uae
— — — —
iaa
iau oau
____ — :
— oiai
~---, — —
□iae —

---- — . —;
--- —
ueai
— ~:
--- —
usae
""---- ^ euai
euae _ ___ ____

TABLE 21: Possible V-syllables and V-syllable sequences

The presence o-f V-syllable sequences in Warao closely

correlates with the chain-suffiKing of person, aspect, mood
and tense markers to verbs:

'(306) tue —a -e —ine

burp PUNC PAST isg.S
'1 burped'

Also, some V sequences are inherent to the root own shape,

as evidenced by

(307) huai 'come out'

(3oa> aua 'kind of fish'

The most -frequent (C)V groups to build monosyllabic,

disyllabic, trisyllabic and polysillabic forms are V, CV, VV,
C W , CVCV, C V W , C V C V W and C WVCV . All of these arrangements
may reduplicate to give rise to many language onomatopoeic
items, such as aeisei C C W + C W 1 'something fading away',
sasasasa CCV+GV+CV+CV3 'sound of a rattling instrument’,

111
maremare CCVCV-t-CVCVl 'sound -for referring to music', kuaikuai
'bouncing up and down', etc.

The predominant pattern of heavy stress is onthe

penultimate vowel, antepenultimate heavy stress remaining
confined to same onomatopoeic words and ultimate heavy stress
to Spanish loans which are heavily stressed in the ultimate
syllable in that language. Heavy stress almost without
exception falls on the second syllable from the end in
disyllables, trisllables and polysyllables. Monosyllables
generally bear heavy stress if the syllable pattern in CV, and
weak stress if the syllable patern is V (Romero Figueroa,
1986b). In some cases, monosyllables are completely
unstressed. Further, heavy stress in Warao often shifts to the
right in search for penultimate syllables once roots take
inflections. This displacement obviouslyoccurs across
morphemic boundaries. fin example of Warao stress shift is
provided in (309)

(309) nahbro

nShord -te 'You eat'

nahiro —nAka 'You do not eat'

nahorb -nak& -ra 'Don’t you eat?’

The marking of weak stress in (309) agrees with a rule by

which alternate syllables are stressed with weak secondary
stress, counting back from the heavily stressed syllable, and
syllables not stressed with heavy stress are unstressed;

In Warao, no two words are distinguished by placement of

stress. Stress has a purely delimitative function in the
language. Root boundaris may be set departing from the
syllables bearing heavy stress which will always be
penultimate, alterning with unstressed and weak syllables
either to the right or to the left. This behavior implies that
the next heavily-stressed syllables necessarily belong to
other roots. Root boundary setting also demand an analysis of
allophone distribution, specially that of those solely
appearing word-initially.

SECTION FIVE: STYLE (Romero—Figueroa, 1993)

29. SOCIOLINBUISTIC CONSIDERATIONS

Speech in sociolinguistics streches along a wide range from

formal to casual, accomodating in between a number of

112
w
M

intermediate possibilities linked at different degrees to two

such poles.;, There is a tendency to choose pieces of casual
*speech. to look into usages of language in environments in
iwhich, the ;..presence of an alien— the researcher is felt as
-undisturbing. OnceT.casual speech and social context have been
correlated and results of; that correlation have been
understood, the remaining varieties up to the most formal one
.can be grasped. This approach strongly favors sociolinguistic
studies, concerning societies different from those most
!linguists belong to, and languages quite distinct from the
one, or ones they speak. This is so because we would be unable
to =comprehend language performances if the social setting
where they occur is unknown to us. Of course, the linguistic
interpretation ; of any language is successful when the
.researcher is perceived by natives as a part of the group and
they start to act as if the linguist were not present.

To obtain casual speech in context implies the sharing of

*i experiences with the social group or groups under
•
‘investigation. This also means an extensive involvement with
‘r 1 the; members of the group(s). A fundamental achievement in
sociolinguistic researches the obtaining of speech in which
experiences and involvement conflate.

n In most societies, perhaps all, contexts of

interaction set up such dimensions as
serious—trivial, open network-closed network,
speech
sacred—secular,
and several
other value scales CBrown & Fraser, 1979), which ultimately
lead to the use of particular styles. Speech styles vary with
^participants in diverse manners. According to Brown S< Fraser
(1979), we may distinguish between speech styles as markers of
i various characeristies of the individual speakers and speech
styles as markers of relationships among participants. What is
mast distinctive about many of these styles is the nature of
-the. lexicon. Brown 5* Fraser.(1979) mention that doctors,
stockbrokers and gamblers,use different words while performing
their respective roles. Since the topics of their talk are
quite different this is harly surprising, and if all, what was
claimed was that different activities require different
vocabularies. But of course, even as far as vocabulary is
-concerned, there is more to it than that. For professional
-groups are likely to be using technical terms for activities
which would be discussed in different terms by layman.

Styles can also contain phonological markers. In this

respect, Brown & Fraser (1979) indicate that radio
commentators, for instance, make use of extra stress for
loudness contrasts, and use intonation both to connect
segments into lengthy, apparently coherent, sentences, and
also to give clear indications of finality. This kind of
phonological features that may be associated to particular
styles are widely spread over languages of the world.

I m
 As for morphology and syntax, the speakers of any language,
may accomplish a great many communicative tasks with i the
sentences of their language. In this regard, Sadock & Zwicky
(1979) note that speakers' conventional conversational uses
let narrate a tale, report what someone knows or has heard,
suggest a joint action, give permission to do something, 1 and
so on. For some of these uses, a language will have specific
syntactic constructions, or even specific forms, reserved (just
for these uses— special particles, affixes, word order,
elliptical arrangements, etc.— that will keep a connection
with the rales of the participants and that ultimately will
depend upon particular styles. All of the above lead to
conclude that style heavily conditions the lexicon, phonology,
morphology and syntax of a language. Under such circumstances,
styles are code variants of language used in specific ways and
with particular purposes.

In mast of the investigations conducted on Warao---and 'this

is perhaps true of many studies an South American native
languages— emphasis is assigned to structure and little, has
been said about style as a conditioning factor of structure.

In native languages of South America, the linguisic area in

which Warao belongs, there are styles which may be
distinguished without any knowledge of the code as structure.
Such is the case in Shakleng (Urban; 1985, 1986a, 1986b), a
language in which some ceremonial dialogues characterize by
formal features such as the level of pitch, the metered
syl1ibification, the explosive pharyngealized and
1aryngealized articulation, and so forth. Thus, any
listener-- even without knowing how to speak Shokleng— will
accept that a specific style is in use. Style and structure in
this sense are opposed concepts. Nevertheless, there are other
instances in which the distinctiveness of structure and style
is a limiting factor. One such case is Xavante (Braham, 1986),
a language in which the discaursive sequences of the ritual
specialist known as the 'a'ama involves large stylistic
lexical substitutions using the basic morphology and syntax of
Xavante. This style of the 'a* ama is not marked by distinctive
intonation, metering or voice quality. As a result, listeners
cannot distinguish this style of use from ordinary Xavante
language just by listening to it. In this sense, Xavante
behaves differently from Shakleng in which the different style
of the ceremonial dialogue given its special phonological
characteristics may be identified with no knowledge of the
structure. Urban (1987) points out that the 'a *ama style is a
structure-dependent code variant. Insofar as it is
structure—dependent, the features that allow one to pick out
the style are also features employed in building the code as
structure. Based upon the Xavante experience, Urban (1987)
suggests a view of the relationship between language and style
as in TABLE 23 below

114
 :===P AR T 2 == —

| STYLE 1 j j STYLE 2 j j S TYLE 3 j

| STYLE 5 j | STYLE 6 . S TYLE 7

'

□ :z ] l z ij l ::: j z z j
— r HPi i 3===============
p==PART -jf —— —-

r i
'
TABLE 23: Language and style according to Urban (1987)

According to Urban C19875, the small boxes in the diagram

represent distict styles. Each of these styles may involve a
distinctive distributional structure. Some aspects or parts of
a structure may be shared between different styles. These
shared aspects of structure are indicated by Urban using
larger boxes— labelled PART 1, PART 2, etc.— that encompass
more than one style. Thus, Urban (1987) notes, lexical items
may be found in certain styles but not in others, a particular
morphological rule may characterize only some styles, a
specific syntactic phenomenon may be relatively localized, and
so on.

Urban (1987) groups the basic parameter of stylistic

variation^ variation South America under the general headings
of SPACE, TIME, PERSON and REFERENTIAL CONTENT.(
)
i

(i) SPACE. With regard to the spatial parameters of style,

linguistic work draws close to social anthropology.
Anthropologists working on South America have drawn attention
to the notion of "social space", that is SPACE conceived as
relevant to society. Brahaoi (1986) studied the usage of three
styles; ritual wailing, communal singing and political
oratory. She observed that the styles tends to be associated
exclusively with distinct parts of the Xavante social space.
Xavante villages are organized into a semicircle of houses
around a central plaza. Graham (1986) noted that ritual
wailing occurred almost exclusively around the hut, whereas
political oratory was associated with the plaza, the area
where the meetings of the men's council occurred. Communal
singing was in this regard intermediate, taking place in the
plaza, but also between the plaza and the hut as groups of men
marched around the village singing.

! 215
jjjl^
J -
 1 6
E i. i,
1
{
:
(ii) TIME. Time is a very -frequent co—determinant of usage.
One example of this is discussed by Urban (1987) along the
following lines: in Shakleng, the origin of myth-telling, dr
ceremonial dialogue style, known as the waneklen. and the ■
dyadic chanting style known as the ahan are closely related in
structure-independent forms, differing markedly; in
structure—dependent aspects. The former style is associated i>
with these rituals for the dead, and it is in this measure
temporally—bound. The latter style occurs at the lip—plug
giving and thigh—tabooing ceremony for 1— to 3—year— old
children. It only takes place in the latter temporallyj-bound ,
context.

(iii) PERSON. A basic distinction, Urban (1987) notices,

among personal determinants of style has to do with their
relational as opposed to non-relational character. The ! style
may be determined more in terms of the person who is speaking,
regardless of the interlocutor or other aspects of the
context, or mare in terms of the relationship between
speaker(s) and hearer(s). Among the non-relational
determinants are such basic oppositions as that between,; male
and female. In some cases, there may be full of structural
differences between men's and women's speech. Another
non-relational contrasts involves age, especially, differences
between elder and younger speech. j

A relational determinant is style variation depending

upon the kinship relation between speaker and hearer. In; some
Central Brazil languages, affinal relationships demand a E
formality in interaction which includes linguistic styles. i.
i
(iv) RFERENTIAL CONTENT. This refers to the content or
subject matter of the discourse which may be associated with ,
stylistic distinctiveness. In general, style determined by
content is usually referred to as "genre". Urban (19B7) i notes
that there are many formal features that differentiate |‘
myth-telling from other instances of language use, and that j
differentiate one type of myth—tel1ing, that dealing' with
traditional stories, from another, that dealing with the
origin myth. In the case of Shakleng, Urban paints out, , these i-
are mainly lexical and syntactic; however, in other Amazonian |.
languages they may be basically phonological. j

30. WARAQ SPEECH ACTS AND ASSOCIATED DISCOUSE FEATURES

To accomplish the goal of describing different speech !styles

which characterize by particular morpho—syntactic and lexical
usages determined— on a spatial—temporal framework— by the ■
person who is speaking, kinship ties or social relationships o
between speakers and hearers and referential contents or |(
subject matters into consideration, it is necessary to (typify
speech acts and clasify the discourse features prevailing in
such types. Only after this step has been completed, styles or ;
i h

116
i

,cade ..variants of a language may be distinguished and accounted

:■ ■
.i
. " . ,• |
In Warao society, the mast elementary contact between
;two' individuals, far example, a case in which one of them
runs into; the other, implies a verbal exchange, very often
?structures)as fallows
i ■ .?• . k :i
i 'i ’’ i:
(310) A: ihi kasikaha —ra ;
; . you what .INTERRQB
> i .. 'Haw are you?':
; ■ i; *
B: bahuka -te ihi bahuka -te -ra
. be good NON-PAST you be good NON-PAST INTERROS
"I am good. Are you good?'
;< -
A: bahuka -te
■ be good NON-PAST >.
'I am good’ ,j.

B: yak —era ■
goodness AUBM ■
Fine'

■ <■ i ;
V The: speech act quoted above, called BAHUKA A RIBU
'words of saying to be good' or 'words of greeting', may vary
according to circumstances' such as kinship, degree of
intimacy, frequency of meeting, purpose of the encounter if it
is .intentional, and others. Jhis particular speech act tends
to be rather formal particularly because among the Warao,
personal relations are plentiful of respect and consideration
for. the elderly and for the masculine members of the nuclear
and extended families. Ttius,' this greeting formula is almost
compulsory; It is quite likely that individuals who are
closely: acquainted will use jargon of over sexually—oriented
content in their greeting. These interlocutors will
incorporate such sexual remarks into BAHUKA A RIBU bringing
about 'a different type of speech act known as ENOYABA A RIBU
’words : of.making fun'. The resultant speech act, an informal
variant. of BAHUKA A RIBU,; often involves two males, or
females, of similar age, usually youngsters, that may belong
to '■the same family or to different ones. The discoursive
sequence in ENOBAYA A RIBU may develop along the fallowing
lines 11

-.(311.) A: kasikaha ihi. wata —hoto -ira —ra

what you: intercourse doer AUB INTERROS
'' I (lit.) 'How are you, the one one that gets engaged
. in frequent coition', or
'How are you, big dick?'
. :. - ... . I:

117
 B: kasikaha ma yaba
what my -friend
'Haw are you, my friend?'

ft: bahuka -te

be good NON-PAS
'I am good'

B: yak -era
goodness AUGM
'Fine'

These speech acts and their verbalizations are free

from spatial, temporal and contextual constraints in BAHUKftYA
A RIBU and ENOYABA A RIBU, person is determinant for ,the
occurrence of either one code or the other. If the encounter
of the interlocutors— or participants— in these speech acts
lasts enough as to consider that it fits into the categoryi of
a visit, the interplay of space, time and person contributes
to define a new different speech act called DEHEWARA A RIBU
'words of saying stories'. The latter often proceeds indoors,
once greeting has finished and participants have taken seats
an the floor, or in any available piece of furniture including
hammocks. The act in most cases begins by questioning the
visitor as exemplified in (312) below

(312) kasikaha deh -ekira -ra

what story no INTERRQB
'What’s up? Any story?'

As a response, the one inquired might choose to narrate

any of his/her most recent experiences. This choice implies
the development of a speech act that may be considered a
sub-type within DEHEWARA A RIBU 'words of saying stories’. The
telling of stories about personal affairs already past or in
progress is known as ERIBU 'words of saying about common
events'. These stories may deal with topics as diverse as
family news, financial or health problems, communal routines
or travelling episodes. A fragment of a conversation on a
journey is offered in (313)

(313) a. wahukatu -ya aka nabaka —n —a —e

last ALL we arrive sg RUNG PAST
'Finally, we arrived'

b. anaka ta —era —witu naba sibi

storm strength AUGM H.I. river half

namoni —n —a —e
strike sg RUNG PAST
'A big storm struck us in the middle of the
river'

118
 [' ! c. oko wariari -tiu -a —e
; <i \ 11 ' we sink ITER PUNC PAST
’■ i ■ ‘We almost sunk' ’

i i 'Finally, we arrived. A big storm struck us

; when we were in,the middle of the river. Our
canoe was close to sink'

Other topics can be,selected in answering the question

1in (312), a l l :depending upon the roles of the interlocutors.
If they happen to be practitioners of medical and religious
activities among the Warao, their stories would mainly concern
sickness, labelled MOBARA A RIBU 'words of saying stories
about sickness',: or they might be about sorrow and regret,
called SANA A RIBU 'wards of saying stories about distress’. A
N08ARA A RIBU text is presented ,in (314) below

(314) ako kuana vsota —te arone

we hardness work NON—PAST although

yak' ‘ —era' nahoro -te osibu

goodness AUGM eat NON-PAST morokoto
(kind of
fish)

masi a tomanoboto —ma saba baka a mi ho

deer of meat child PL for vaca of breast fluid
’ (venison) (cow)
(caw milk)

•" ' moa —te

J give NON—PAST

ta -te -mo a noboto -ma wab —a -e kuare

that LOG ABL of child PL die PUNC PAST since
(from there)

oka reha -te

we fear NON-PAST

tama -tika hebu nao -kuna

this LOG bad spirit come INCH PRES
(right here)
‘Although we work hard and eat well, morokoto.
venison and cow milk (is) given to the children, we
are afraid because the children die. A bad spirit
begins to come right here'

A SANA A RIBU 'words of saying stories about distress'

text is shown in (315)

119
 I
i
(315) m- auka wab -a -e kuare ine arao ana, ha •
lsg.POS son die PUNC PAST as I people no eCOP,
(without i
family) j

sina wab —a —e m— auka sanuka :

one die PUNC PAST lsg.PQS son smallness ;

yak -era tai ha ona -naka 1

goodness AUGM he COP cry NEG f
(lit.) ‘I am wihout a family as my son died. The dead
one was my little kid. He was a good boy. (You) do
not cry’ t

A speech act of the kind exemplified in (315) jwould

likely include as well the description of some shamanistic
procedures used to cure the sick. In this case, ’ the
participating shamans tD make their points as clearl'y as
possible will explain their performances quoting pieces of
their curing invocations. This is observed in (316) i

(316) dubuhu nebu waba -te

quick man die NON-PAST

maraka aisia waba —naka ta —te !

maraka with die NEG AUX NON—PAST ‘
I
kareko ma- auka -ma ma- ribu noka - kotu I
kareko Isg.PDS son PL lsg.POS word obey 2pl.IMP

yatu ine inataba -te

2pl.O I master NON-PAST

yatu aisia ine -isi ta —i -ha

you AGEN I DAT strength COMP PERF j
'This man will die quickly. (But) he will not die by
virtue of this maraka. Karekos■ my sons, yon all,
obey me. I master you: give me your power’ '

The text in (316) shows some specialised terms as; well

as some particular meanings in euphemistic senses, in accord
with the interacting dyad, since it must be remembered: that
the speaker and the hearer share a religious status. In (316),
maraka 'a rattle’ and kareko ’pebbles of a rattle; are
fundamental instruments to be used and invoked in shamanistic
c u rin g rituals. This is so in the case of the pebbles of the
rattle because stones are very uncommon in the territories

120
' o c c u p i e d by’the Warao. Rather,; this land has alluvial terrains
imadei aui; af!clay and sand that- the Orinoco River has gradually
.deposited in the banks not the many mouths of its Delta.
Therefore, occasional stones or fragments of ancient rocks
that, have been uncovered by the waters are perceived by the
Warao, as signalling magical, and sacred places considered
.habitats, of| spirits.,. Smalli, pieces of these stones in the hands
of a shaman means that he is in possession of the power and
^wisdom of the inhabiting1 spirits. The kareko 'pebbles of a
rattle' 'are- tutelary spirits in Warao religious beliefs which
areskept prisoners in the maraka 'a rattle' by shamans.

J ft visit to a Warao household may also turn around the

jtelling ;of stories about ancestry. This kind of speech act is
called DENOBO ft RIBU 'words of saying stories about
.ancestors'.( 'DENOBD „ ft RIBU is generally induced by initial
statements such as those in <317—31B) below
l ■ :-i v;
<■3171, dehe wara —u
l _ i, story speak; 2sg.IMP
t • ! 'You, tell a story!’ i
»: 'jj . ■ !.(,■ ■: ■; If; I
:' ■■ 1 ; ■
' i ,
i , <318), dehe wara — kotu j,
; . ,, [ story speak 2pl.IMP ,
1 'You all, tell a story!’
: I,., t i, i

j ’ Such" as. indicated by the statements in <317—318),

iDElMDBD ft RIBU 'words of saying stories about ancestors' is
ihigbly '[dependent upon the;person parameter. In this respect,
person appears to take precedence over the two other important
parameters for the defining of this speech act, namely time
jand.l'space. (317-318) suggest a story-telling session in which
there is one or several story—teller(s) addressing a group or
'auditorium. ,<317—319) represent an unidirectional system.
Uriidirectional telling 'of 'ancestral tales involves the
pres'elice:of ‘one, or more individuals of social relevance, as a
stoHy-teller’ or story-tellers. Hence, it may be expected
formality, ’ or iat least, a semi—formal treatment. fts well,
istrnry—tel1ing sessions conducted by such characters appear to
,be highly-bound to spacer They preferably occur in the place
or the; addresser, who ,would probably be the kobenahoro
’governor’ or any aidamp ’chief'. A further aspect to be
considered about the unidirectional situation relates to the
behavior o f ; the listeners which is almost totally passive,
remaining in silence all over the delivering. In this case,
listeners' - participations— “if any— generally confine
themselves to collective laughing as a response to stimuli of
comic nature;

!
li.Xu
121
 Another speech act that has been detected— called
DIHIBU 'words of giving explanations'— covers discussions
intended for solving communal problems, particularly those
which have caused physical and verbal violence or any other
kind of disagreement among the Warao of a village. !The
contextual situation for DIHIBU is somewhat defined by ithe
time, space, person and referential content parameters, i A
DIHIBU session meets at night in the place of any community
leader, whether this is the home of the kobenahoro 'governor',
or any airamp 'chief'— the bisi kari 'fiscal', kabitano
'captain' or borisia 'policeman'. The confronting parties
together with relatives and friends show up at the meeting
place where the kobenahoro and other chiefs might have
convened, and one by one expresses points of view about the
matter. They may be questioned to clarify doubts. Once
argumentations have been evaluated, one of the chiefs
interprets what has happened and makes a point on what the
consequences of such deeds may be or might have been. Finally,
he encourages the ceasing of hostilities and the restoration
of harmony between the upset men, groups or families. ;The
chief emphasizes in the need of sticking to peaceful solutions
such as the ancestors always did. The chiefs’ pieces of advice
seldom generate reactions other than those leading to a
settlement; nonetheless, the participants in DIHIBU meetings
may go on in the discussion of the problem for several hours
to adjust the terms of the arrangement. My data suggests that
consensus is obtained very quickly when the chief is a
skillful orator. In egalitarian societies like the Warao,
leading statuses correlate with ability to preserve good
interpersonal relations in groups and communities. The
opposite condition— current alteration of social order :and
delay to bring it back— means leadership weakening, and often
this triggers the renewal of community heads.

A fragment of DIHIBU 'words of giving explanations

involving three participants in an exchange of offenses and
derogatory phrases is shown in (319)

(319) A: tai nibora as —ira ine tai mi —komoni

that man badness AUEM I 3sg.D see NEB PUT

ine tai obono —naica tai tomana ekira

I 3sg.O want NEB he shame no
'That man is very bad. I cannot see (stand) him. I
do not want (dislike) him. He is shameless'

B: ihi as —ira tomana ekira

you badness AUBM shame no
'You are bad. You are shameless (in defensive
reply)’

122
 ma , —mo ihx naru -ts
lsg.O ABL you go NON-PAST

kasikaha ihx non -a —e

what you ho 1 RUNG PAST

ihi as -ira non — a —e tai nona -naka

y o u ;badness ALIGM do RUNG PAST 3sg.Q do MEG
"You gD (away) from me. What you didl. You. did
wrong. You do not,do i t (again)’

inare ta —u naru
shut up AUX 2sg.IMP go

hi' mi —kitane obona -naka ihi ma

2sg.Q see INFINIT want MEG you lsg.0

ekutu -bu.

I. .
4) ;.
j ,:
;
■
'make fun ITER NEG
'Shut u p . Go (away) a I do not want to see you.
do not make fun of me'
You

1
1 ■. A: kasikaha tax ihi non -a —e —ra
what 3sg.0 you da PUNC PAST INTERROG
L 4 •
' ■!' ihi nona — te -kare ine hi yewere —te
I do NON-PAST c o m I 2sg.0 reject NON-

nona —naka
do NEG
’How could you do it?. If you da it I will reject
you. You do not do it (anymore)’

According to the data analyzed in (310—319) in the

preceding, Warao relevant speech acts may be summarized as
follows

BAHUKA A RIBU
'words of E x p r e s s i n g well-being"

EMOYABA A RIBU
'words of making fun'

DEHEWARA A RIEU
'words of telling stories'

3.1. ERIBU
'Words of talking about common events'

3.1.1. MOBARA A RIBU

'Words of telling stories about sickness’

123
i
 3.1.2. SANA A RIBU '
'Wards of telling stories about distress'

3.2. DENOBO A RIBU

'Words of telling stories about ancestry’ i
L
4. DIHIEU ,
'Words of giving explanations'

TABLE 24: Relevant speech acts in Waraa

The -four major types accounted -for and their sub—types j>
. f T T - y - r |

rank from the least bound to the parameters considered, for ,,

studying style in this research— BAHUKA A RIBU 'words of :
expressing well-being'— to the most bound to jsuch
parameters— DIHIBU 'words of giving explanations'. On the| one
hand, the discoursive characteristics of BAHUKA A RIBU are j,
heavily dependent upon person, they are not determined by j
either time or space though. On the other hand, DIHIBU 'words f
of giving explanations' shows a strong interaction of timej (i
space and person. In the intermediate positions, in DEHEWARA A
RIBU 'words of telling stories', for instance, space! and
person are quite relevant. In this type, time is important to ii
a lesser degree. :
• ,

It is convenient to state that speech acts in Warao do I;

not presuppose rigidity in verbal sequences. In fact, verbal
sequences generally vary, but they essentially structure in .
.
. * * * » . ' .....

the manner the examples show. I have used some portions of my

collected recordings that may be thought as being ''
representative of the Waraa way of thinking and acting. ‘ !!
i ,
Finally, I have not offered an exhaustive inventory of
speech acts because the process of acculturation of the Warao ,,
has made increasingly remote the possibilities to celebrate
traditional religious ritualssuch as nahanamu or ! the ^
presenting of palm tree flour offerings to kanobo j 'our V
grandfather’. I never had the chance to attend this ceremony j!
because it is no longer seasonally observed. Another speech
act that I was unable to witness was the one associated ! with
"

burials, events that have quite distinctive discoursive is

features according to data by Barral (19ti4). ;
'

f
I :
1 *'
—

i
124
} ' I !. I;.

I '!( ' I ' ■■■• :

| Sl'i 'SClfclAL—ANTHROPOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WARAQ
v V:'. V. < !!! !
,i, ?i! : Linguistic usages correlate strongly with social and
anthropological -features. Thus, I must provide some details
about;,; the religious beliefs and order-preserving mechanisms
among,the War'ao which are necessary -for the understanding of
some! of^the findings. Although I shared with the Warao enough
time) -for drawing my own conclusions, -further information in
this; dissertation has been- taken from Barral (1964) and Su&rez
''(1;97:1K ij; ;
i- ,i:= \.T, ■
; ; :
With regard to religious life, Suarez (1971) paints out
that the. control of0 the supernatural forces lies in the hands
of the wisiratu ' (lit.) the owner of the poison'— a medicine
practitipner that has the power to nullify evilness inflected
by someone else, the hoarotm ' (lit. the owner of the evil
spirits'(-one ‘that has the power to inflict evilness to someone
else! an( d the bahanarotu '(lit.) the owner of the magical
arrow';. Respectively, these Warao religious guides master
three supernatural forces which enter the human body and cause
three sorts of Very different diseases, namely hebu 'a spirit
bf "h’at:ure~ . hoa ’an evil spirit’ and hatabu 'an enchantment'.
Suirez 1(1971) adds that'1 eafch one of these diseases has
specific- symptoms and theLtherapy carried out varies in each
instance. An individual ill with hebu suffers from digestive
disorders, fever and flu. The wisiratu's cure consists of
•invocations' to helping spirits'— by using his mar aka 'a rattle'
tagethen with tobacco smoke blowing and massages— to evict the
u.ntiealth( y possession from the victim’s body. According to
Suarez) interpretation of the facts, hebu can be identified as
spirits "of trees, rain, water,, shadows, etc. The wisiratu is a
person who himself possesses hebu. anattribute obtained from
the ;1time of his initiation,' and that it is the one that
enables him'to control its'rdiverse detrimental manifestations.
The wisiratu also protects his community of the dangers of
natural phenomema. I never;had- the chances to witness a curing
ritual, j but ,1 indeed watched a wisiratu sending away a storm
pust; ,.iiri'!, front of his home entrance. His verbal performance
appears (iin (320) ;

(320) sssu sssu naha naru naha naru naha eko —nu
sssu sssu rain gb rain go rain move 2sg.IMP
■i i
i. naha eko —nut;
: , :■;>! j. rain move 2sg.IMF
; ; J aj; -.j' 'Shoo shoo, rain; goes away, rain goes away. You
i t j ! rain, go away!. Ea away! '

1 ;;i \
, In contrast, hoa is an oral witchcraft sent by the
hoarotu“1 like an arrow against; someone chosen as his prey. A
Warao attacked - by hoa feels; terrible pains elsewhere and
tecoghizes himself to have been a victim of a wicked hoarotu

125
living in the same settlement or in its sorroundings. hoa. also
designates an oral formula used by the hoarotu for curing hoa
disease. Hence, the hoarotu performs both actions: he can
cause illness and he is also able to restore health by tobacco
smoke blowing and massages. I could never record a jhoa;
however, Barral (1945: 170) reports one of them such as is
shown in (321) below !

(321) ayawaka ayawaka wisiratu ,

hi wisitane ninisibuae hi a obone
hi rokoitane ninisibuae hi a obone
hi meha noika sabuka
hi matarufcaneninae
sau ana tekore sau bakanae
sau bakanae tekore
sau uananu
sau oreturanu !
ine hi temonate '
ine hi temoikore
□reraitanu
(Barral, 1964:170)

‘Scorpion, scorpion, owner of the poison

so your poison inoculate
so your mouth sent it as well as your body
below your chest
your poison sack got up side down
you brought soreness where it did not exist before
soreness alleviate
soreness alleviate
X will nullify you
when I finish to do this
you disappear'
(approKimate translation of my own)

hatabu is produced by the bahanarotu. Like hoa. hatabu is

also an arrow directed against a victim; however, hatabu
differs from hoa in that it is invested with a corporal
appearance (Suarez, 1971:62). hatabu has a materialistic
configuration in the farm of strings, fish-hooks, hair, etc.,
which have a pathogenic action ascribed to them. The treatment
of hatabu consists of suction, tobacco smoke blowing and
massages intended to extract the arrow embedded in the sick
Warao. Although I never attended a bahanarotu act; I have
chosen to exemplify a piece of discourse of this type by
quoting Olson (1973) in (322) below

126
 1322) ;ine yemawarine ine
ine hiahoko anaware yehebatu
ine etuMaratu ine
'ine sabaaabama
taimonuka ine
s •■■■. ine' mawae karamuna ine
■ 'I am the master '
,1 am the caller of; the, hebu
I am your greater
£ am the same as him
, ;my beginning is together with him
this is my name....
{Olsen, 1973:57)

hoa and hatabu are the most fatal causes of death. When
I'.lie hoarotu and the bahanarotu are unable to extract them and
fail ifi their curative functions then the patient inevitably
dies, hebu is a less serious health problem being milder than
the others. .

i . i Suarez <1971) proposes that the basic belief in the

.Warao theory of disease causation is that the human body is
'attacked by the incorporation of supernatural forces which are
conceptualized in three different ways: hebu as a natural
spirit which possesses the individual and hoa and hatabu as
two maleficent arrows which enter the body of a victim. The
'former is abstract, the latter is concrete. Both are produced
by practitioners who assumms dual roles: one aggressive and
harmful; the other beneficient and curative. Warao society
makes the malevolent aspect of the hoarotu and the bahanarotu
dominant, and the wickedness of both is socially recognized
.and inspires fear, whereas the wisiratu. master of hebu, is
;well known for his goodness and benevolence.

Coming into political organization, the Warao society

is egalitarian, although social order is controlled by
individuals who exercise leadership on the grounds of their
•mastery of supernatural and natural farces as well as their
control of oratory and their language proficiency. Any Warao,
as he grows older and his success in salving community
problems has been tested in practical situations, would have
access to 1eadership.in his family group and by extension to
his neighbors and even his settlement as a whole. Thus, as
Suirez (1971) notes, two sorts of jural statuses can be
distinguished: one for the kobenahoro 'governor’, kabitano
'captain', bisikari 'fiscal' and borisia 'policeman', who are
the leaders; the other belonging to the nebu 'young men' or
'workers’. The former set groups under the generic
denomination airamotuma 'chiefs'. They are usually the oldest
men in the village. Within the airamotuma 'chiefs', the
kobenahoro takes the supremacy on the grounds of extensive
accumulated experience over the longest time period as
compared with the others. The remainder-- kabitano. bisikari
and borisia— become the kobenahoro *s assistants. The

127
kobenahpro ' 5 assistants are younger people and are related to
him by kinship ties in most cases. The need o-f assistants- will-
straight— forwardly depend upon the size of the communities and
even their distribution in the area. Biven that the terms
kobenahoro. kabitano. bisikari and borisia are Ularao
adaptations of Spanish 'gobernador’, ’capitan’, 'fiscal'I and
'policia', it is likely that the original system— prior to the
presence fo Spanish-descent settlers in the Warao
homeland— were simply called airamotuma 'chiefs', under; the
supreme leadership of a nobo 'grandfather' of widely-accepted
respectability. At least, the DENQBQ A R1BU 'words of telling
stories about ancestry’ does not report instances of any of
the Spanish-based terms. Rather, such stories often report
ancestral gran-fathers’ physical dexterities and mental
capabi1ities. 1

32. RELEVANT WARAO LINGUISTIC PATTERNS IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

An important linguistic aspect linked to religious, and

political leaders is in passing viewed by Wilbert (1975) when
analyzing a Warao folktale. Wilbert (1975) notices that | "the
use of metaphoric language among the Warao is largely related
to the social and religious elite of the tribe. They either
choose archaic words, no longer in common use, or modify* the
current lexicon "by adding, suppressing or substituting
letters, syllables and even words with or without semantic
meaning" (Barral, 195B:30). Independently from his use of -such
terms as tribe and elite which are incompatible with the Warao
organizational and social systems (Warao society) is
egalitarian), Wilbert (1975) offers adequate observations
about language use. He points out that "on special occasions
priest—shamans, in trance or not, chant texts that are totally
unintelligible...and chiefs are prone to use connotative
language when each morning before sunrise they chant their
work orders." Barral (1945:157) also provides information of
linguistic value as follows: The hoarotu when chanting his hoa
artificially modulates his voice in rythmic and varied tones;
intensifying and diminishing volume, always keeping a ipace
with his sacred rattle, wisthing like birds, buzzing) and
chirping like insects, hissing like snakes and s d forth, j

Language codes, or styles, of the kind reported by

Barral (1945) may of course be distinguished apart frbm a
knowledge of structure. In such cases, in the absence of
previous contact with Warao, any hearer can nevertheless
detect that a particular style of language is in use, because
it will develop in a specific phonological framework. These
code variants are in some measure structure-independent;
therefore, they fall outside the scope of this work. In accord
with the theoretical background on style offered in (Bee 30.),
distinctive intonation, metering and voice quality say l,ittle
about language structure. I will exclusively focus on lexical
factors such as the ones mentioned by Wilbert (1975) inj the
preceding, as well as ir. morpho—syntactic patterns operating
in association, with certain styles that I have identified in
1.I
I

128
i
t ■'p '5:- .r-- : y ; f '
; „ .. ']■ . - ;
wnv recordings. In summary, attention will be centered an code
'variants that may not be distinguished just by listening to
them and whose analysis, on the contrary, demands extensive
■masteryt.of: language structure.;
t , ft-s-si : i ; -.-M !.■■
. 33. PARTICIPANTS IN WARAO SPEECH ACTS
■i ; : ■!
ji : Some of the relevant speech acts accounted for in 31.,
iare.,. highly, motivated by social circumstances of social and
political nature. At this, stage of this investigation— once
Harao rj:eligion and order have also been overviewed— the
possibilities of interlocution may be characterised. It must
be .'accepted that an explanation of styles in any language
depends! upon ah adequate interpretation of the roles of the
^participantsrin every possible speech act.
I H, M! I. T. ’!, ■;
; The '■ speech act ranking in terms of strong binding on
person ;at the BAHUKA A RIBU ’words of expressing well-being’
end ..and ,mild binding on person at the 0IHIBU ’words of giving
{explanations’ end suggests ;a correlation with a range of
participation from duads to meetings. BAHUKA A RIBU on the one
hand presupposes two participants in the absence (or in the
(presence) of an audience. TJIHIBU on the other includes several
{participant's performing "one 'at a time, or even at the same
time. The intermediate ranking' position— DENOBO A RIBU ’words
"ofretelling ‘stories about ancestry’— turns around only one
(individual addressing to an audience.

33. !. Twu participants ip the absence (or in the presence

.... ... of an audience

.Two, ipartci pants tend j;to | hold their verbal exchange

privately, although others can be around listening to them.
They’ ''both alternate their 'passages of talk in a dialagistic
TasHian'.1 This sort of exchange is mainly carried out by
!ilid1M,duals; of analogous statuses, from workers to chiefs. On
ithe'ii grounds-of such statuses and their associated discourse
icdntdntd is1that distinctions have been possible to be set up,
;for !‘ instance, between 8AHUKA A RIBU ’words of expressing
wel lr-beijng ’ and ENOYABA A RIBU ’words of making fun’, as well
as ..between .the two speech acts above mentioned and ERIBU
■’words rif talking about common; events ’, and within this latter
type', between NQBARA A RIBU ’.words of telling stories about
sicknesd’ and SANA A RIBU ’words of telling stories about
‘distress’. All of the five1 speech acts so far alluded involve
two participants in action'.

! ,33.2. .{Several participants performing one at a time, or even

i \i severs! -at the same time

, They .interact in public sessions in which talks order

succeedingly according to requested rights to take part in the
.discussion.. The right to take part arises form the need of
rejecting or accepting .the ( debated matters. Since this
feituatidn ;i;s 'mainly found in DIHIBU ’words of giving

129
explanations', a speech act in which the airamatuma 1
'chiefs'— individuals sharing leading status— play primary
r a l e s , speech interferences may arise among them which are
socially acceptable. Far this reason, in occassions, two or
more of them may talk simultaneouly to suggest, calm ■ down, '•
disagree, etc. Conversely, nebu 'workers' are not allowed to *
upset participating order and they never interrupt when
someone else is talking.

33.3. Only an individual, addressing an audience

This is in most cases a situation observed in DENOBQ A 1

RIBU ’words of telling stories about ancestry-. The leading
participant narrates a story about which he must show total
mastery because any slip of memory would trigger complaints 1
and inattention. As well, the leading participant without any >■
interruptions must take to its end the story that he has begun
to tell as an evidence of his abilities. Any one in the
audience is allowed to comment about one or more aspects of !
the story, or may correct the story-teller if a deviation of ,
the actual facts is noticed. In those cases in which the story
is delivered uneventfully the audience usually remains silent
and attentive. !

34. WARAO SPEECH STYLES

All of the data on Warao speech acts and participant *

roles in discourse offered in the preceding sections hasi
enabled me to isolate some speech styles in the language.
Although the kind of style I have centered my attention on is
the structure-depfendent one, it is very likely that in such,
isolated styles morpho-syntactic and phonological features
intersect. For instance, DIHIBU 'words of giving
explanations', a speech act which often includes several
participants performing one at a time or even several at the
same time, the end of the part of each interlocutor is marked
by an acute tone concomitant with vowel lengthening. This is a
systematic procedure that may be thought to be a resource to
preserve ordering in participations on the part of individuals
of similar statuses by making the audience— by using sound
effects— aware of the end of everyone's talk. This
phonological device is observed even in variants of sentential
arrangements that are often found in DIHIBU. I have chosen in
these cases to make considerations about the morpho—syntactic
aspects only, disregarding sound patterning and
suprasegmentals.

Given its peculiarities, DIHIBU ’words of giving

explanations' as a speech act sets down a specific style. I
have called it the DERI STYLE 'council style'. The passages of
talk in the DERI STYLE offer very interesting saciolinguistic
data for the three following reasons: (i3 participants focus
on just one topic in most of the cases offering explanations
of actions that depict a problem and identify individuals
playing parts in it. This sort of explanations contain varied

130
 phonological, morphosyntactic , and lexical forms that make
possible to compare manners of saying and behaving. The DERI
STYLE! closely associates with direct speech, the manner of
speech nowadays ; considered the keystone for understanding
dxscoursive sequences and their socio-cultural meaning and
inip1ications, Cii) language is used not only for transmitting
; expressions and discussing actions, but it itself represents
actions since every participant— using all possible
, resources— attempts to convince the others of accepting his
point .of view., One of the major efforts in this respect should
be .made by the airamotuma 'chiefs' whose fundamental role is
the -finding; of a solution' to each problem, for instance,
persuading the protagonists of an impasse to change the
attitude of one towards the other and viceversa. In this
sense, - the DERI STYLE is a source of data for studying
performativity’ (Brimes, 1975), and (iii) contents reveal
linguistic usages that allows to explore degrees of
proficiency and personal attitudes of the Warao towards the
Warao language. The passages of talk in the DERI STYLE offered
by participants, independently from statuses, point out the
.relevance, of such conceptual relations as those shown in
(323> belriw

(36) obonobo ===> dibu ===> yanoko ===> yakerata

think say listen solve
(Briggs, 198B)

' Several notes of morpho—syntactic value about Warao by

Barr si (195B) have been included in ethnographies, grammars
and dictionaries in the absence of an analysis of styles in
this language. As a result, some of the remarks by Barra! lack
justifications, and in the case of other authors their
appreciations are not convincent. For instance, Barral (195B)
mentions that "occultism"— or what he personally calls
"literary camouflage"— is an outstanding quality of the speech
of the airamotuma 'chiefs' and wisiratu 'shamans'. Barral adds
that the airamotuma and wisiratu try to create a sort of
mysterious environment around them to reach the goal to put
intentionally a belief into any Warao's mind, and since the
Warao are candid, as he says, the use of language showing
uncommon arrangements and realisations of difficult
interpretation becomes an instrument f a r such a purpose.
Socially, Barral's judgement may be true, but from a
linguistic perspective, his explanation is insufficient. I
have found that what seems to be simply "literary camouflage"
represents indeed manifestations of stylistically-motivated
syntactic patterns and lexicon. For instance, suffixal
pronouns, and morphological causatives of di—transitive verbs
are typical in the DERI STYLE, and some of these structures
are variants of other structures commonly used in everyday
language. It appears to be that the emphatic value of suffixal
pronouns as opposed to the semantic effect of prefixal ones
arid the possibilities of language enrichment that
morphological di—transitive causatives bring about as compared
with other causatives are important tools in discoursive

131
sequences related to DIHIBU.

DENOBO A RIBU ‘words of telling stories about ancestry’ , a

speech act in which only one of the participants addresses an
audience, is a propitious content for the use of another; style
in Warao. I have called it the DENOBO STYLE 'legend style’.
The DENOBO STYLE characterizes by the use of certain lexical
items of deictic value that make passible to place events in
specific time frameworks. Such temporal units— -mainly
periphrasitic past adverbs— are seldom heard in everyday
language, and their use seems to be a prerrogative of those
who are in charge of the oral transferring of Warao traditions
from generation to generation, namely airamotuma 'chiefs' and
nobotuma 'grandfathers’. For instance, the use of vama 'BY
HSY', atehewitu 'at the very beginning', and so forth,
contribute— in addition to referential contents— to set up a
distinction between DENQBO A RIBU 'words of telling stories
about ancestrys' and ERIBU 'words of talking about common
events'. The latter, as opposed to the former, mostly includes
deictic adverbs and postositional locatives, which obviously
lack the connotative remoteness of such time expressions as
'BY HSY (as my elders told long time ago)' or 'at the very
beginning', and others.

To sum up, styles in Warao correlate with speech acts and

participant roles as shown in TABLE 25:

Ci) DERI STYLE 'council style'

a. Speech act type: DIHIBU

'words of giving
explanati on
b. Participant roles: Several participants performing
one at a time, or even several
at the same time
c. Linguistic features: Morpho—syntactic variants
plus phonological traits

(iii BENOBO STYLE ’legend style'

a. Speech act type: DENOBO A RIBU 'words for telling !

stories
, about I
I
ancestry
b. Participant roles: Only one of the participants!
addressing an audience !
c. Linguistic features: Lexical variants mainly |

TABLE 25s Intel'— relationship among styles, speech acts,

and participant roles

132
■'■■■■■■• ;The DERI STYLE and BENOBQ STYLE perhaps contrast with the
manners that the Warao use for communicating every-day life
events. This may be called the ARE STYLE 'the usual style".
This-style correlates with some speech acts and participating
roles as shown in TABLE 26:

Kiit'i ARE STYLE "the usual style’

:ii
r:‘ ; -h
Speech act types: BAHUK a A RIBU words of
expressing well-being",
ENOYABA A RIBU "words of
-making fun", ERIBU "words of
talking about common
ievents’, NQBARA A RIBU
"words of telling stories
about sickness", and SANA A
:RIBU "words of telling
stories about distress'

b. Participant roles: Two participants with or without

an audience

c. Linguistic features: Predominance of unmarked

phonological,
morphological, syntactic
and lexical patterns

TABLE 26: Inter-relationship among styles, speech act

types, and participant roles

133
 CONCLUSIONS

(1) The data provided by Marao and the descriptive analysis

here offered is expected to have broadened the data base
available to linguistic science for purposes of formulating
substantive and formal universale an human language,
particularly in areas of current theoretical interest s u c h ; as
the determination of basic constituent order, Waran has proven
to be a predominantly object initial language within a very
steady verb final sentential pattern, which favors iOSV
arrangement in simplex sentences. Although subjects in Warao
appear to be erratic constituents often, fronted for
highlighting purposes, they may be adjacent to verbs, behavior
which works in support of its classification as a prototypical
CSV language.

(2) Warao has evidenced that styles are not separable ! or

differentiable solely on the basis of structural or other
linguistic dissimilarities. Although, X have demonstrated ‘the
existence of a style— the DERI 'council' STYLE— which is
structural 1-/-dependent, I would have not been able to isolate
it in the absence of "specific meaning determined by ;the
contextual situation". Indeed, in Warao, there are styles
which are very much alike from a syntactic point Df view, and
they differentiate just because they have an inherent social
significance. Thus, any researcher interested in style must
endeavour to discover such specific meanings by penetrating
the social setting so as to be able to conceive SPEECH ACTS
and PARTICIPANT ROLES. In some cases, the decisive factors in
defining styles which are very much alike in their syntax is
the content of the speaker's discourse. In some other
instances it is the purpose of his/her verbal performance, and
even in other instances it is the kind of audience they have.

(3) This sociolinguistic sketch of Warao incorporates this

language to the very reduced set of Amazonian languages that
have been looked into upon an adequate theoretical framework.
Many existing analyses written at the turn of the century have
described native languages against a Latin-based grammatical
background. Despite increased contributions about the
functioning of native languages developed during the past
twenty years, the Amazon—Orinoco axis still remains a
linguistic reservoir about which very little has been
investigated. In this particular linguistic context, some
studies of strict phonological, morpho-syntactic and lexical
scope have been completed. Nevertheless, little attention has
been paid to language and society interaction. Native South
American languages very often offer different patterns and
alternative forms rooted in societal traits. In these
languages, perhaps more than in any others, the property of
variation in languages becomes remarkably significant. I have
found for Warao oral performances that the diverse forms of
stylistic differentiation are intimately linked to social
organization— interacting actively and each one supporting the

134
other. In the Waraa case, the study of styi isti c
differentiation demands considerations about customs beliefs,
political order, kinship, alliance, etc-, as well as about
more restricted social circles within society.

135
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ZEPEDA, :Ofelia (1987), Desiderative causatives in Tahanno

O'odham. IJAL 53:346-61
j ' ^ ‘ (1) The author’s Warao informant with his two children
| ! ! (picture taken in San Jose de Biiha, State of Monagas in 1996)

(2) The author’s Warao informant with assistant Maria Fernanda Pelayo
and the author during a recording session
(3) The informant’s wife
and children in Buha
I
(4) The informant’s family
and the author’s assistant in Buha
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(5) The road to Cachama (Kashaama in Kari’na). This is the site of fieldworking for the
author’s research. It’s a semidesertic plain in the center of the State of Anzoategui.
 mm:

(6) WELCOME TO TASCABANA, the sign reads.

Tascabana (Takkabanna in Kari’ina) is another village, 20 kilometers east of Cachama

(7) Pablo Elias Carreno, the author’s main Kari’na informant, during a work session in
i Cachama Public Library (a community reading room).