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oa Nominal purposive constructions in Wapishana and Taruma
- Source: Nota Bene, Volume 2, Issue 2, Oct 2025, p. 413 - 429
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- 10 Apr 2025
- 24 Jun 2025
- 31 Oct 2025
Abstract
Abstract
The Indigenous languages of South America employ varying strategies for nominal purpose-marking; for instance, the markers used in this construction include benefactive case (in Macushi, see Abbot 1991) and possessives (in Lokono, see Pet 2011), but also specifically purposive adpositions (Kokama-Kokamilla, see Vallejos 2010). In this paper, I analyze and compare nominal purpose marking in two languages which are in close contact: Wapishana (Arawakan) and Taruma (unclassified). In Wapishana, the morpheme used in this construction is a TAM marker for non-present tense or irrealis mood which also functions as a nominalizer (dos Santos 2006; WLP 2000). I argue that the nominal purposive construction is essentially the subordination of a nominal predicate. The Taruma data stemming from recent fieldwork shows that the marker in question functions as a purposive marker and might also be a subordinator.