Língua Terena: prosódia, semântica e aspectos da prática escolar

Abstract

This dissertation’s goal is twofold. First, we aim to give a contribution for the description of the Terena language (Aruák family, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil), in order to understand more of its grammatical phenomena (semantic, syntactic and phonological). Therefore, we wish to add something new to the current knowledge of the language. In the second place, we wish to show how such a grammar knowledge sheds light into certain issues related to the practice of indigenous teachers, moreover in writing. By understanding the behavior of some elements of Terena grammar, such as the Determiners ra and ne, and as the plural marker -hiko, teachers and community members will have a new perspective on some writing problems, finding a guide to resolve their doubts. We claim that the Determiners ra and ne are clitics. They may occur enclitically or proclitically in speech. Syntactically and semantically, however, they always modify the following word. We also claim that those Determiners are distinct from suffixes, even when pronounced within another word. Suffixes change the word accent, while ra and ne do not. The plural marker -hiko never occurs proclitically, but as well as ra and ne, -hiko does not change the accent of its base. We explain those facts by assuming that whenever a suffix changes the accent of its base, that suffix integrates a phonological word with its base. That knowledge gives a new perspective for the writing difficulties found in Terena schools. The Determiners na and re, as well as the plural marker -hiko, are written together with another word when the speakers represent the phonological phrase in writing. They are written apart from the previous and from the following words when the speakers recognize them as morphemes endowed with a proper meaning. Therefore, we can analyze the different segmentations attested in writing as a reflex of the choices by the speakers of representing one or another aspect of the language structure when writing. The recognition by the teachers of a phonological option and of a semantic-syntactic option of language segmentation can become a powerful tool for better practices, helping to adequate the teaching practices to the speaker’s community reality.