The Arawak Lokono word for "man": A case of grammaticalization

Résumé 0

The Arawak language of the Guianas, also known as "Arawak proper" or "Lokono", -- a native term meaning "human beings", "the Indians" -- is one of the few surviving Amerindian languages of he Caribbean area. It is spoken nowadays in Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. In this language, the term wadili , "man", is used in negative sentences as a modal verb meaning "to be able (to do something)". A similar innovation is to be found in Surinamese Sranan Tongo, a Creole language spoken in Suriname and in French Guiana. In this language, man with the meaning "man, human being" has developed in the same way, as a "modal auxiliary" which "conveys the sense of ability constrained by physical laws or other sources beyond the agent's control". In both languages, this innovation is considered as due to grammaticalization, as discussed in D. Winford (An Introduction to Contact Linguistics, Blackwell, 2003:351-2). We will discuss the status of the Arawak-Lokono word for "man", wadili, a piece of innovation, and postulate for the way it is being used a case of calquing consisting in a parallel innovation in two langages in contact: Arawak-Lokono and Sranan Tongo.