Les verbes de posture en ese ejja: Un système de classificateurs verbaux

Abstract

Abstract Ese Ejja is an Amazonian language spoken in Peru and Bolivia. It possesses four posture verbs that appear in multiple constructions to express location, possession, existence, imperfective aspect and present tense. Firstly, the article examines the criteria for associating these verbs (be they grammaticalized or not) to the animate or inanimate entities. These criteria are not necessarily linked directly to posture, be it real or prototypical for a given entity, but may involve the sex of the entity, or even to the place where the entity is located. Secondly, it argues that the Ese Ejja posture verbs are better analyzed as verbal classifiers rather than classificatory verbs, as they participate in a number of constructions spanning the continuum from purely lexical to entirely grammatical ones, using the same semantic criteria.