Exogamy Research Articles

Insecurity through diversity: a case study from the Northwest Amazon

ABSTRACT This paper uses the themes of language rights, language choice, and language risk to consider linguistic insecurity in the Northwest Amazon (Upper Negro river) region of Brazil. Because the region is home to a large number of languages (c. two dozen), the idea of preserving this diversity is a popular theme in discourses about language in the Upper Negro river. I argue that the ideologies underlying the goal of preserving ‘diversity’ as a concept are not, in fact, the same ones that have sustained the presence of these languages thus far, especially as concerns the Tukanoan languages of the Uaupés basin (Jackson, J. E. 1983. The Fish People: Linguistic Exogamy and Tukanoan Identity in Northwest Amazonia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press). Paradoxically, the reification of ‘diversity’ as a characteristic of the Northwest Amazonian Indigenous population has tended to promote homogenisation among groups that have historically valued differentiation from one another. In examining ideologies and practices surrounding each of the three themes of this issue, I suggest that discourses of ‘diversity’, applied at the local level, can create complex outcomes for the languages they are used to promote.

Cultural Innovations Influence Patterns of Genetic Diversity in Northwestern Amazonia.

Human populations often exhibit contrasting patterns of genetic diversity in the mtDNA and the nonrecombining portion of the Y-chromosome (NRY), which reflect sex-specific cultural behaviors and population histories. Here, we sequenced 2.3 Mb of the NRY from 284 individuals representing more than 30 Native American groups from Northwestern Amazonia (NWA) and compared these data to previously generated mtDNA genomes from the same groups, to investigate the impact of cultural practices on genetic diversity and gain new insights about NWA population history. Relevant cultural practices in NWA include postmarital residential rules and linguistic exogamy, a marital practice in which men are required to marry women speaking a different language. We identified 2,969 SNPs in the NRY sequences, only 925 of which were previously described. The NRY and mtDNA data showed different sex-specific demographic histories: female effective population size has been larger than that of males through time, which might reflect larger variance in male reproductive success. Both markers show an increase in lineage diversification beginning ∼5,000 years ago, which may reflect the intensification of agriculture, technological innovations, and the expansion of regional trade networks documented in the archaeological evidence. Furthermore, we find similar excesses of NRY versus mtDNA between-population divergence at both the local and continental scale, suggesting long-term stability of female versus male migration. We also find evidence of the impact of sociocultural practices on diversity patterns. Finally, our study highlights the importance of analyzing high-resolution mtDNA and NRY sequences to reconstruct demographic history, since this can differ considerably between sexes.

Montenegrin-Albanian Linguistic Border: In Search of “Balanced Language Contact”

The article aims to clarify the notion of “balanced language contact” and to model the situation of a language contact (in the present and the past) in one of the ethnically and linguistically mixed regions of the Montenegrin-Albanian linguistic border. The study focuses on the situation in the bilingual community of thevillageofVelja Gorana, located in the area of Mrkovići inSouthern Montenegro. The community of the village, as it seems at a first glance, provides a good example of a “balanced contact” situation. The language situation in Velja Gorana is described in the article as a set of micro-situations, or scenarios, developing on family and individual levels. Attention is paid not only to the communication in the family domain, but also to the external relations of the community members. Following on from this material, the authors attempt to develop a methodology for assessing the role of both languages in such communities in general, showing which factors influence individual linguistic behavior; how this behavior may change during an individual lifetime; how the different speakers’ strategies amalgamate in what can be considered as behavior of a multilingual speech community. Analyzing the information on the history of Velia Gorana, in particular, conducting a detailed examination of the origins, genealogies and marriage strategies of its families, allows the authors to reconstruct the mechanisms for the development of “linguistic exogamy” in the community of Velja Gorana and to make assumptions about the nature of the contact situation in this region in the past.

High-resolution mitochondrial DNA analysis sheds light on human diversity, cultural interactions, and population mobility in Northwestern Amazonia.

Northwestern Amazonia (NWA) is a center of high linguistic and cultural diversity. Several language families and linguistic isolates occur in this region, as well as different subsistence patterns, with some groups being foragers and others agriculturalists. In addition, speakers of Eastern Tukanoan languages are known for practicing linguistic exogamy, a marriage system in which partners are taken from different language groups. In this study, we use high-resolution mitochondrial DNA sequencing to investigate the impact of this linguistic and cultural diversity on the genetic relationships and population structure of NWA groups. We collected saliva samples from individuals representing 40 different NWA ethnolinguistic groups and sequenced 439 complete mitochondrial genomes to an average coverage of 1,030×. The mtDNA data revealed that NWA populations have high genetic diversity with extensive sharing of haplotypes among groups. Moreover, groups who practice linguistic exogamy have higher genetic diversity, while the foraging Nukak have lower genetic diversity. We also find that rivers play a more important role than either geography or language affiliation in structuring the genetic relationships of populations. Contrary to the view of NWA as a pristine area inhabited by small human populations living in isolation, our data support a view of high diversity and contact among different ethnolinguistic groups, with movement along rivers probably facilitating this contact. Additionally, we provide evidence for the impact of cultural practices, such as linguistic exogamy, on patterns of genetic variation. Overall, this study provides new data and insights into a remote and little-studied region of the world.

Linguistic exogamy and language shift in the northwest Amazon

Abstract The sociocultural complex of the northwest Amazon is remarkable for its system of linguistic exogamy in which individuals marry outside their language groups. This article illustrates how linguistic exogamy crucially relies upon the alignment of descent and post-marital residence. Native ideologies apprehend languages as the inalienable possessions of patrilineally reckoned descent groups. At the same time, post-marital residence is traditionally patrilocal. This alignment between descent and post-marital residence means that the language which children are normatively expected to produce – the language of their patrilineal descent group – is also the language most widely spoken in the local community, easing acquisition of the target language. Indigenous migration to Catholic mission centers in the twentieth century and ongoing migration to urban areas along the Rio Negro in Brazil are reconfiguring the relationship between multilingualism and marriage. With out-migration from patrilineally-based villages, descent and post-marital residence are no longer aligned. Multilingualism is being rapidly eroded, with language shift from minority Eastern Tukanoan languages to Tukano being widespread. Continued practice of descent group exogamy even under such conditions of widespread language shift reflects how the semiotic relationship between language and descent group membership is conceptualized within the system of linguistic exogamy.

A Revised Proposal of Proto-Tukanoan Consonants and Tukanoan Family Classification

This paper presents a reconstruction of Proto-Tukanoan consonants and the classification of the family based on shared phonological innovations. The proposed reconstruction contrasts with previous comparative studies of the family by proposing a series of laryn-gealized stops (instead of voiced stops) and a different set of sounds for the alveolar and palatal points of articulation. Methodologically, it considers lexicostatistical methods to play a secondary role in the classification of languages in the Tukanoan family. It offers a detailed discussion of contact vs. inherited linguistic traits in the Tukanoan family and in the Vaupes region, well known for its multilingualism and system of linguistic exogamy, and concludes with an interpretation of the evolution of the Tukanoan family in historical terms.

Mating system and gene flow in the Lutheran communities from historical Polish territories (the Parish of Trzebosz, the second half of the 19th and early 20th century)

The aim of this paper was to analyse the mating system and the degree of genetic isolation of the Lutheran Parish of Trzebosz situated on the borderland between Greater Poland and Silesia. Use was made of 343 records from marriage registers for 1855-1913. For exogamous marriages an analysis of distributions of marriage distances based on the order of neighbourhood for isotropic, 2-dimensional migration was carried out. The factual and theoretical mating distances distributions were compared using the chi-square test. The degree of isolation of the Lutheran Parish of Trzebosz was evaluated on the basis of the coefficient of kinship f and the intragroup coefficient of inbreeding by isonymy. Gene flow in the Lutheran Parish of Trzebosz had no bearing upon the theoretical model of isotropic, 2-dimensional migration. Low values of the coefficients of kinship and the intragroup coefficient of inbreeding by isonymy show that the parish was not isolated in terms of breeding.

Shifting Language Attitudes In North-West Amazonia

Tariana is an endangered language spoken by about 100 people in a remote area of northwest Amazonia, Brazil. The language is spoken in a fascinating area where one can only marry someone who speaks a different language and who belongs to a different ethnic group. Tariana is being rapidly displaced by an unrelated language, Tucano. The article focuses on the drastic changes which have occurred among the Tariana over the past decade. At present, Tariana speaking communities as such no longer exist. The linguistic exogamy is occasionally violated. Language remains the badge of identity, but for most people only in theory. The puristic language attitudes have relented. Occasional code-switching with Tucano and Portuguese (the national language) is no longer considered a mark of incompetence. Many Tariana lament that their language is being lost, and are relying on the school to learn it back, and the language is no longer spoken in the families.

Who speaks what to whom? Multilingualism and language choice in Misión La Paz

AbstractThe multilingualism and patterns of language use in Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina are described and analyzed. Three indigenous languages, Chorote, Nivaclé, and Wichí, are spoken here, but interlocutors in conversations usually do not speak the same language to one another. There is extensive linguistic exogamy, and husbands and wives typically speak different languages to one another. Individuals identify with one language, speak it to all others, and claim only to understand but not to speak the other languages spoken to them. Children in the same family very often identify with and thus speak different languages from one another. This situation is examined and explanations are offered, with comparisons to similar situations elsewhere. The pattern of language choice and multilingual use in this case is arguably unique, with implications for several general claims about language contact and multilingualism.

Multilingual Imperatives: The Elaboration of a Category in Northwest Amazonia

The Vaupés River Basin in northwest Amazonia is a well‐established linguistic area. Its major feature is obligatory societal multilingualism which follows the principle of linguistic exogamy: “those who speak the same language as us are our brothers, and we do not marry our sisters.” Speakers of East Tucanoan languages and of one Arawak language, Tariana, participate in the exogamous marriage network and share the obligatory multilingualism.Long‐term interaction between East Tucanoan languages and Tariana has resulted in the rampant diffusion of grammatical and semantic patterns and calquing of categories. A typologically unusual system of 11 imperatives in Tariana bears a strong impact from East Tucanoan languages; but to say that imperative meanings were just borrowed or calqued from East Tucanoan languages would be a simplification. The markers come from different non‐imperative categories, via distinct mechanisms. I discuss the mechanisms involved in the development of Tariana multiple imperatives and then address the crucial question: Which factors facilitate the diffusion of commands?

Crossing the Line in Quebec and Catalonia

The linguistically “mixed” marriage stands at the crossroads of important factors in the future of French in North America and Catalan in Europe: reversing language shift. While Quebec and Catalonia initially appear strikingly similar, one could easily conclude that if the couple exogamique is good for the future of Catalan, it will also favor francisation in Quebec. Strong evidence indicates that demographic, linguistic, socioeconomic, and even “life-style” factors may make linguistic exogamy favorable to Catalan, but marginally disadvantageous to Quebec French. With “mixed” couples (whether married or not) increasing in number in both countries, the linguistic outcome of the “mixed” household becomes increasingly important to language planners.

Women and the Tragic Family of Man in Juan de la Cueva's Los siete infantes de Lara

The role women play in Cueva's dramatic reworking of the legend of the Infantes de Lara and the unconscious logic underlying its dramatic structure and violent ending are related to several factors, including: 1) the exogamous exchange of women, fundamental to the structure of patrilinear society; 2) tensions arising from the ethnic cleansing of sixteenth-century Spain; 3) an aristocratic crisis of the imagination, generated by the transition from feudal society to centralized absolute monarchy in the late fifteenth and sixteenth century, which pressured the aristocracy to relinquish its private justice; 4) Senecan influence on sixteenth-century drama, evident in the relationship of the Siete Infantes to Seneca's Thyestes; and 5) women's role in tragedy, a genre by which men define their own position in society.

Multilingual and Monolingual Placenames in Tariana

AbstractTariana is the only Arawak language spoken in the linguistic area of the Vaupes River basin of Amazonia, along with a number of East Tucanoan languages. The Tariana people are thought to be the most recent arrivals in the region. The indigenous inhabitants of the area are obligatorily multilingual because of linguistic exogamy. Tariana placenames are divided into three groups: (a) names of places where Tariana have lived recently, or still live, (b) names of historical places associated with original living sites and migrations of the Tariana, and (c) names of places associated with the mythic ancestors of the Tariana. Only names in the first group enter into multilingual sets; these are calque translations involving East Tucanoan languages of the area. Tariana placenames of the other two groups are monolingual, and often have archaic linguistic traits, confirming that obligatory multilingualism among Tariana is of relatively recent origin.

The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon: a sense of space

Preface Acknowledgments Notes on the Transcription 1. Introduction Part I. History 2. European Expansion, Intertribal Relations, and Linguistic Exogamy in the Upper Rio Negro from 1616 3. Scientific and Missionary Activities in the Uaupes Basin from 1760 Part II: Sociology 4. Social Organization 5. Kinship Nomenclature 6. Gender, Language, and Placement in Wanano Poetic Forms Part III: Ecology and Economy 7. The Succulence of Place: Control and Distribution of Fish Resources 8. The Po?oa Exchange Part IV: Ordinary Dramas 9. Rank and Leadership within a Wanano Settlement 10. The Bucacopa Case: Rank and Obligation among Three Uaupes Sibs 11. Conclusion Appendix: Kin Terms Notes References Cited Index

War and peace in primitive human societies: the effects of exogamy

Approche sociobiologique de l'exogamie en tant que moyen de prevenir la guerre entre des groupes humains partageant le meme capital genetique

Population structure and consaguinity in Dota, Costa Rica, 1888-1962

A study of consanguinity and population structure was carried out in a sample of 498 consanguineous (MC) and 570 non-consanguineous matings (MNC) in the Parrish of Dota, Costa Rica, during a period of 75 years. The inbreeding coefficient (F) shows fluctuations in time (476 to 194 x 10(-5) with an increase from 1888 to 1917, followed by a decrease in the last years but remains high in nonmigrant marriages. There is a high frequency of unions among second cousins. The endogamy percentage is high, greater in MC (80%) than in MNC (61%). Exogamy tends to diminish with time among both types of union. Effects of age distributions in the groups was not found. Marital and migrational distances are short and tend to become shorter in the final periods. There is a positive correlation (r = 0.71; p less than 0.05) between these distances in MC but not in MNC; distances are shorter in MC. Immigration is minimal and reduced to short distances. Post-marital movement is intense (37%) and involves greater distances. Emigratory behavior is identical in MC and MNC.

III. Exogamy rules and Sanctions : A Cross-Cultural Research Note on Deviance Rates and Severity of Punishment1

III. Exogamy rules and Sanctions : A Cross-Cultural Research Note on Deviance Rates and Severity of Punishment1

On the Origins of Incest and Exogamy

Previous articleNext article No AccessDiscussion and CriticismOn the Origins of Incest and ExogamyAndre VaragnacAndre Varagnac Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 10, Number 5Dec., 1969 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/201055 Views: 4Total views on this site Copyright 1969 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Endogamy, exogamy, and stature.

Endogamy, exogamy, and stature.

Totemica ; a Supplement to Totemism and Exogamy

Totemica ; a Supplement to Totemism and Exogamy