Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations 2016-12-01 The Onomatopoeic Ideophone-Gesture Relationship in Pastaza Quichua Sarah Ann Hatton Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Linguistics Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hatton, Sarah Ann, "The Onomatopoeic Ideophone-Gesture Relationship in Pastaza Quichua" (2016). All Theses and Dissertations. 6123. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6123 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Onomatopoeic Ideophone-Gesture Relationship in Pastaza Quichua Sarah Ann Hatton A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Janis B. Nuckolls, Chair Cynthia L. Hallen William G. Eggington Department of Linguistics and English Language Brigham Young University Copyright © 2016 Sarah Ann Hatton All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT The Onomatopoeic Ideophone-Gesture Relationship in Pastaza Quichua Sarah Ann Hatton Department of Linguistics and English Language, BYU Master of Arts The relationship between ideophones and gestures has only recently been studied and is not yet completely understood. The topic has been specifically addressed by Kita (1993), Klassen (1998), Dingemanse (2013), Mihas (2013), and Reiter (2013). Yet there has been little focus on onomatopoeic ideophones. Onomatopoeic ideophones have been set aside as different by many previous researchers (Klassen, 1998, pp. 28-31; Kilian-Hatz, 2001, pp. 161-163; Dingemanse, 2011, pp. 131, 165-167; Mihas, 2012, pp. 327-329; Reiter, 2013, pp. 9-10, 308). Being stigmatized as simple, they have been labeled as “sound mimicking words” (McGregor, 2002, p. 341), “non-linguistic sounds” (Güldemann, 2008, p. 283), or “imitative sounds” (Hinton et al., 1994, §2.1). This thesis specifically addresses the relationship between onomatopoeic ideophones and gestures in Pastaza Quichua (PQ). My data acquired from primary and secondary sources, consists of 69 interactions, comprising eight hours of video recordings collected in Tena, Ecuador. These recordings include traditional narratives, personal experience tellings, elicited descriptions of nature, short didactic explanations, and folksongs. My methodology consists of close examination, classification, and tagging of 435 ideophones in the PQ data for sensory class and gestural accompaniment, using McNeill’s (1992) typology. This thesis demonstrates that onomatopoeic ideophones do not have the same relationship with gestures that synesthetic ideophones do. Synesthetic ideophones are consistently accompanied by gestures (94.4% of the time) while onomatopoeic ideophones are much less likely to be accompanied by gestures (27.0% of the time). The lack of gestures occurring with onomatopoeic ideophones is striking given that PQ speakers seem to be constantly gesturing during speech. The PQ data supports previous observations that most gestures accompanying ideophones are iconic (Kunene, 1965; Dingemanse, 2013; Reiter, 2013; Mihas, 2013; Kita, 1993). The data also supports McNeill’s (2007, p. 11) statement that gestures are used to make an image more real and that repetition can lead to fading gestures. However, it challenges his prediction that a minimal departure from context is the cause of a conspicuous lack of gesture. Sensory type, that is whether an ideophone is onomatopoeic or not, seems to be the most important factor in predicting gestural behavior. This paper also contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between ideophones and gestures and, ultimately, between language and gesture. Keywords: Quichua, Quechua, Ideophones, Gesture, Onomatopoeia, Mimetics, Iconicity ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My family deserves my earnest gratitude for supporting my goals and ambitions. They have been endlessly encouraging and patient during my time in school. My mother knowingly gave me hope in my discouragement. My father, in boundless optimism, encouraged me to reach ever higher. And my sisters continually inspired me with their outstanding examples of hard work and determination. The remarkably talented professors at BYU made this project possible. I am especially grateful for the inspiring tutelage of Janis Nuckolls. She actively sought out opportunities for me to improve my academic skills and get real-world experience. She patiently led me through the pitfalls of undertaking large projects and encouraged my progress. Her passion for learning more about the Quichua language and people was contagious. I also owe particular thanks to Cynthia Hallen, whose ever-cheerful outlook granted me hope and fortitude in my development as a researcher. As a philologist and gifted writer, she has opened my eyes to the potential beauty of the written word. I also wish to give a special thanks to Bill Eggington and Don Chapman, whose good advice and cheery examples of lifelong learning have made me a better linguist. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS The Onomatopoeic Ideophone-Gesture Relationship in Pastaza Quichua ...................................... i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ......................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction to the Research Problem .................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction to Ideophon ....................................................................................................... 3 Example 1.1 Depiction using sound-symbolism. .................................................................... 4 1.2 Introduction to Ideophone-Gesture Composites ................................................................... 5 Example 1.2 Luisa becomes the floodwaters. ......................................................................... 5 1.3 Introduction to Onomatopoeic Ideophones ........................................................................... 6 Example 1.3 Synesthetic and onomatopoeic ideophones. ....................................................... 7 Example 1.4 Kukuli performed without gesture. ..................................................................... 8 Example 1.5 Kukuli performed with gesture. .......................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Methods and Data ................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Fieldwork Setting ................................................................................................................ 11 2.2 Participants .......................................................................................................................... 11 2.3 Video Recording ................................................................................................................. 11 2.4 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Cross-Linguistic Investigations of Ideophones ..................................................... 17 3.1 Characteristics of Ideophones ............................................................................................. 18 Example 3.1 Semantic latitude and precision. ....................................................................... 20 3.2 Grammatical Significance of Ideophones ........................................................................... 21 3.3 Creation of Ideophones ....................................................................................................... 22 Example 3.2 A creative ideophone. ....................................................................................... 23 3.4 Ideophones Differ Semiotically from the Prosaic Lexicon ................................................. 25 Example 3.3 Iconic depiction. ............................................................................................... 26 3.5 Emotional Load and Rhetorical Function of Ideophones ................................................... 28 v Example 3.4 Emotional expression of ideophones. ............................................................... 30 Chapter 4: Gesture ..................................................................................................................... 34 4.1 Functions of gesture ............................................................................................................ 35 Example 4.1 Interacting with a conceptual environment. ..................................................... 36 4.2 Synchrony of Speech and Gesture .....................................................................................