Morphological and Semantic Analysis of Zoonymic Lexical Units in Central Quechua; [Analyse morphologique et sémantique des unités lexicales zoonymiques en quéchua central]

Espinoza Bustamante F.R.; Manallay Moreno P.L. · Boletin de la Academia Peruana de la Lengua (2024) · DOI: 10.46744/bapl.202401.006

Resumen

The aim of this research is to determine the morphological constructions and semantic motivation underlying zoonyms in Central Quechua, one of the two main branches of the Quechua linguistic family. In this branch, there is evidence of zoonyms that, within all their linguistic particularities, present a clear semantic motivation, which is materialized on the basis of non-propositional schemes, since, for example, visual and auditory perception play an important role when assigning a name to wildlife species in the environment of the Central Quechua people. The most representative patterns of semantic motivation behind faunistic terms in Central Quechua are explained through the concept of profiling proposed by Langacker (1987), since the phenomenon discussed can be solidly explained on the basis of two conceptual variables involved in this process: base and profile. We detected that the main conceptual patterns that semantically motivate the construction of the meaning of zoonyms are linked to the morphological characteristics or outstanding properties; the reference to habitat and behavior, and the time of appearance of wild species in the faunal world. We also found that the creation of zoonyms is based on compositional and derivational nominal constructions, with a preponderance of nominal composition.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos