Documenting Iquito: Lexicon and Morphological Description

FAIN: FN-230217-15

Lev Michael
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA 94704-5940)

Iquito is a critically endangered Zaparoan language of Peruvian Amazonia. With only 18 speakers remaining, at a median age of 70, timely documentation of Iquito is essential not only for knowledge of this remarkable language, but also for comparative work on Zaparoan, which will inform our knowledge of the deep social and cultural history of the Zaparoan peoples and western Amazonia more generally. During a DEL fellowship tenure, I will complete two key components of my ongoing work to document Iquito: 1) preparation of parallel English-Iquito and Spanish-Iquito versions of a bilingual Iquito dictionary, which already exists in draft form; 2) write an extensive morphological description of Iquito; and 3) collaborate with Christine Beier on parsing a large corpus of Iquito texts. Beier and I are each submitting DEL fellowship proposals to collaborate on a single documentation project in which we are responsible for complementary but integrated aspects of the overall project. Beier’s work centers on the Iquito text corpus, with the two projects overlapping on the morphological parsing of these texts. The fellowship will provide me with 11 months of support during my 2015-2016 sabbatical year. Beier and I and the Iquito consultants feel it is urgent to bring the documentation of Iquito to a successful conclusion within the next few years while the opportunity to work with multiple consultants remains. (Edited by staff)

Associated Products

Iquito-English Dictionary (Book)
Title: Iquito-English Dictionary
Author: Lev Michael
Author: Christine Beier
Author: Jaime Pacaya Inuma
Author: Ema Llona Yareja
Author: Hermenegildo Díaz Cuyasa
Author: Ligia Inuma Inuma
Abstract: This dictionary documents the lexicon of Iquito, an indigenous language of northern Peruvian Amazonia. Iquito is a member of the Zaparoan language family, whose other members include Andoa, Arabela, and Sápara (also known as Záparo). Formerly spoken in a large region between the Tigre and Napo Rivers in what is now the departamento of Loreto, Peru, Iquito is currently spoken by a small number of elders in communities on or near the Pintuyacu River, four of whom, Jaime Pacaya Inuma, Ema Llona Yareja, Hermenegildo Díaz Cuyasa, and Ligia Inuma Inuma, contributed to the broad linguistic, cultural, and historical knowledge documented in this dictionary. This dictionary serves not only as a comprehensive record of the Iquito lexicon; it also documents the unpredictable allomorphy and grammatical features of Iquito lexemes, and describes aspects of Iquito culture relevant to understanding their use and meanings. A glossary of Loretano Spanish terms used in the definitions is also provided.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/97h5t0gz
Publisher: Editorial Abya-Yala
Type: Multi-author monograph
ISBN: 978-9942-09-66
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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