Gender, Number, and Humanness in Arawak

Simply knowing the features associated with the pronouns is not sufficient to allow one to choose the correct pronoun for a particular referent. The problem lies in the fact that, for Arawak, humanness and maleness are not completely biologically based. The pronouns do not necessarily reflect whether or not a referent is human or male in an objective sense; instead, they sometimes reflect the speaker’s feelings toward that referent. This is most true of the feature [+– human]. In general, referents are [+human] if they are Arawak, and they are [–human] if they are not Arawak. 13 However, speakers who feel a unity with other indigenous groups extend the use of [+human] to members of all such groups. It can be further extended to include close friends in other races if both the speaker and hearer feel an affinity to them. In a similar but lesser manner, [+– male] is influenced by a speaker’s feelings toward a referent. Cute, small, female infants and some animals are also sometimes regarded as having the feature [+male]. Applying the above specifically to Arawak third-person pronouns, one tends to find the third-person singular masculine human forms used for: 1. All males of the speaker’s ethnic group, except if special disdain is intended. 2. Males who are not of the speaker’s ethnic group, if they are friends of the speaker or if a relationship of mutual respect exists between the speaker and referent. 3. Small, human infants either male or female, from the speaker’s group or not, if there is no emphasis on gender intended and they are “cute.” 4. Animals e.g. hikolhi ‘turtle’, objects e.g. adali ‘sun’, and spiritual beings e.g. Adajali ‘God’ considered to be good or desirable, or when they are protagonists in stories. The third-person singular non-masculine forms tend to be used for: 1. All females except, sometimes, infants. 2. Males who are not of the speaker’s ethnic group except as provided for in point 2, above. 3. All animals, objects, and spiritual beings except those provided for in 4, above. 4. The plurals of male humans who are not of the speaker’s group and the plurals of animals, objects, and spiritual beings. The third-person human plural is used only for male and female humans who are Arawaks or with whom the speaker is in sympathy. In all other cases, plural human referents are re- ferred to by the same forms as the third-person singular non-masculine referents see above.

2.3.2 Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives, and Articles

Arawak demonstrative pronouns, articles, and demonstrative adjectives 14 are closely related to the personal pronouns in both form and meaning; however, they occur only in the third per- son. Like the personal pronouns, they are differentiated according to the number, gender, and humanness features mentioned in the previous section. They are further differentiated 14 Phonology and Morphology 13 This classification is also reflected in the nouns. Arawak has no generic root word for ‘human’, as English does. The closest word to this is lokono ‘Arawak person’ often extended to mean ‘indigenous person’. Other races are referred to by other specific words e.g. falhetho ‘white man’, dolhi ‘negro’. Two words, wadili ‘male’ and hiaro ‘female’, are often used in Arawak under circumstances where an English speaker would use ‘man’ and ‘woman’. However, these refer only to the sex of the referent, since they can equally well be used for animals. One other word, kakythinon ‘people’, is now commonly used for groups of people. However, the singular of this word is, again, specific for the gender of the referent: kakythi ‘man’, kakytho ‘woman’ or ‘living being’. 14 Articles and demonstrative adjectives are not nominals, they are identical in form and similar in meaning to the demonstrative pronouns. Hence they are discussed together here. according to the referent’s physical or psychological distance from the speaker and the amount of “pointing” or “singling out” the speaker intends. Their forms may be found in Figure 6. A B C D E 1. to toho tora toraha torabo the this that that that there 2. li lihi lira liraha lirabo the this that that that there 3. na naha nara naraha narabo the these those those those there 1 = singular non-masculine human and singular or plural non-human 2 = singular masculine human 3 = plural human A = neutral distance article or demonstrative adjective B = neutral distance demonstrative adjectives or pronoun C = slightly distant demonstrative adjective or pronoun D = distant demonstrative adjective or pronoun E = distant pointing demonstrative adjective or pronoun Figure 6. Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives, and Articles The uses of the singular non-masculine, the singular human masculine, the singular or