A Reference Grammar of Kotiria (Wanano)

Appendix 1: Texts

Appendix 1: Texts Oral narratives The seven oral narratives included in this appendix were all collected during the first years of my work on Kotiria and constitute an integral element of my analysis of the language. The narratives were told by my consultants Mateus Cabral (texts 1–3), his older brother Ricardo Cabral (texts 6 and 7), and another older gentleman originally from a neighboring village, Agostinho Ferraz (texts 4 and 5). The first three narratives were recorded in the United States, where my work with Mateus Cabral began. The others were recorded in São Gabriel da Cachoeira: Ricardo’s texts at the home of his sister, Emilia, and Agostinho’s texts at his own home. With the exception of Mateus’s narratives, there were always other family members present for the story-telling and the choice of narrative was always left completely up to the speaker. The initial transcription and analysis of each narrative was done together with the original speakers (and often with input from other family members); the title for each narrative was provided by the narrator. Mateus (who spent a good part of his life as a youngster in boarding school and did not have the opportunity to learn many traditional stories from his elders) chose to relate personal experiences and facts about life among the Kotiria, while both Ricardo and Agostinho chose to tell the kinds of traditional stories passed down from generation to generation. Although I did not realize it at first, this was fortunate for my analysis, since different kinds of linguistic structures appear in each genre and contrasts quickly became apparent. The narratives included in this appendix represent only a fraction of the oral literature recorded and analyzed since my work with the Kotiria began (as of 2011, the Kotiria archive of oral literature and examples other of natural speech genres contains over sixty annotated recordings).1 But I will always consider these particular stories to be special. Not only were they offered by speakers who are very dear to me, but they represent my port of entry into the Kotiria language and culture. Far beyond the rich linguistic information contained in each 1 These recordings have been deposited both at the Endangered Language Archive at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages Documentation Project, FUNAI, in Rio de Janeiro; they will be available for consultation from 2012 on. Texts 381 narrative (many aspects of which still remain to be explored), each story also provides a wealth of cultural information and knowledge, a window through which we catch fascinating glimpses of the life and thinking of the Kotiria people.2 1. The Kotiria Study Book This is the first of three short personal narratives told by Mateus Cabral, a speaker in his early thirties with whom I worked when he was living in the U.S. I find the title Mateus gave to the narrative uncannily appropriate because it reflects the fact that Mateus knew I was initiating my study of the language with this narrative; indeed, it was my first real contact with the language in more natural, narrative form. Thus, this short narrative, “The Kotiria Study Book,” was in a very real sense the seed of the much expanded Kotiria Study Book that is this grammar. The narrative is a short description of the daily routines of men and women in a Kotiria community. We learn that Kotiria women are responsible for planting and tending the gardens, where, among other things, they grow manioc and pineapples. It is also the women’s job to process the manioc, which involves soaking, peeling, grating, extracting its poisonous liquid, toasting it into coarse flour, or baking the meal into flatbread. Kotiria men also help with the process by clearing ground and preparing the gardens for planting, but their main responsibility is fishing. 1.1 kotiria bu’erithu kó-ti+ri+a bu’é+ri-thu water-VBZ+NOM+PL study/learn+NOM-CLS:stacked ‘The Kotiria study book’ 1.2 yҁ’ҁ Mo mahkariropҁ hiha. yҁ’ҁ̗ ~bó ~baká+ri+ro-pҁ hí-ha 1SG Mõ village+NOM+SG-LOC COP-VIS.IMPERF.1 ‘I am from Mõ.’3 1.3 ã yoai, yҁ’ҁ õpҁre ta, mipҁre õpҁ yҁ’ҁ hiha. ~a=yoá+i yҁ’ҁ̗ ~ó-pҁ̗ +ré tá so/then=do/make+(1/2)MASC 1SG DEIC.PROX-LOC+OBJ come ~bí-pҁ̗ +ré ~ó-pҁ̗ yҁ’ҁ̗ hí-ha now-LOC+OBJ DEIC.PROX-LOC...