Page 429 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

Power and dominance in intercultural communication 407

The modern linguistic expansion of Shuara occurred within a few decades.
Kummer discusses various sections from Shuar school books, from which I
have compiled a small word list to show some examples of expansion of the
lexicon (the numbers in brackets refer to the pages of Kummer’s article):

Table 1. Expansion of the lexicon in Shuara

Shuar word Literal translation Intended meaning Reference
tuntui drum radio (131, 133)
tsuramta fit, seizure electricity (132, 133)
uunt kunkuim big turtle truck (132, 133)
chikich kunkuim small turtle car (132, 133)

irun-mia-yi there lived there were (136, 137)
jiru (from Span. iron iron (145, 146)
‘hierro’)
mahin machine machine (145, 146)

mahin tante machine that turns turbine (145, 146)
entsa kya aaniun something strong dam (145, 146)
katsurman that is similar to a
rock in water
takamtiktai a means that is made slave (140, 142)
work
nekainiachiat (for someone who knows uneducated person (140, 142)
Span. ‘inculto’) nothing

Apart from the loan words jiru and mahin, the linguistic devices employed to
render new concepts are exclusively Shuar. The strategies include metaphoriz-
ation (“drum” for “radio”) and paraphrase (“something strong that is similar to a
rock in water” for “dam”). These terms and phrases are motivated (Ricken
1995) in that the new concept is, however vaguely, linked to knowledge already
there – which facilitates recollection. The form takamtiktai ‘slave’ is the result
of word formation: “(…) the suffix -tai (…) designates a person or a thing that is
used as a means for an action. This suffix is one of the most important produc-
tive elements to derive terms for appliances that are new to the culture from the
activities characteristic for these appliances.” (Kummer 1985: 143). Another
structural device used frequently by the translators is the verbal suffix -iti which
allows the attribution of processes to entities. This new and frequent usage of
structural devices “leads to new syntactic registers that – to ensure accessibility