Body-part terms in Mapudungun

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter identifies four word-formation strategies for body-part terms in Mapudungun: Coining of simple forms, derivation, compounding, and reduplication. Semantically opaque components in the latter two shed light on different diachronic stages coexisting in the synchronic language. An analysis of the syntactic behavior of body-part terms reveals the existence of oppositions related to inalienability in nominal and verbal possession. In relation to the morphosyntactic coding of the body part and its whole, two main constructions are identified. If the affectation of the body part is foregrounded, its possessive relation to the whole also tends to be coded overtly, whereas if the affectedness of a body-part is backgrounded, its possessive relation to the whole tends to be implied. Therefore, in Mapudungun, we find constructions where the possessive and sympathetic interpretations of the meronymic relationship coexist, and this coexistence is typologically marked.