Ideophones and (non-)arbitrariness in the K’iche’ poetry of Humberto Ak’abal

Bibliographic Data

ID7535283
AuthorsR Barrett (0000-0001-7461-3553, University of Kentucky, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume5
Issue3
Pages406-418
Publication date2014-10-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePragmatics and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1878-9714 • E-ISSN: 1878-9722
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/ps.5.3.05bar
OpenAlexW2010237894
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited10

This paper examines the ways in which Ak’abal uses K’iche’ ideophones and arbitrariness to highlight differences between Mayan languages and Spanish. This paper focuses on Ak’abal’s sound poems constructed through the use of K’iche’ ideophones, primarily onomatopoetic forms representing natural phenomena such as animal sounds, the movement of water, and sounds associated with weather. Ak’abal often treats non-onomatopoetic words (such as the names of birds) as ideophones, suggesting a direct (unmediated) relationship between K’iche’ signs and the natural elements of the environment. These uses of ideophones allow Ak’abal to position Mayan languages and literature as spiritually connected to the environment, in sharp contrast to the environmental destructiveness he associates with Spanish and Ladino cultural dominance in Guatemala

Arbitrariness · Art · Linguistics · Literature · Oral poetry · Poetry · Sociology · Anthropology · History · Latin American history and culture · Multisensory perception and integration · Philosophy

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