Truth and knowledge markers in Wayana (Cariban), Suriname

Abstract

"‘Truth and knowledge markers’ is the term used to group together a seemingly disparate set of grammatical markers that is pervasive in the Cariban, and also in some Arawakan languages of the Guianas in South America. Themarkers in question express epistemological ideas of realities and truths. In the existing grammatical descriptions, at best, a formal description of the morphemes in question as emphatic, similative, and frustrative markers may be found scattered through various parts of the morphology, where they are dealt with in a structural manner; however, what is needed, besides a structural analysis, is a systematic look at and detailed analysis of their semantic, pragmatic and indeed philosophical import, both as separate morphological items and also collectively as a systemof truth and realitymarkers. In this contribution,Wayana data are presented to exemplify at least parts of this system"