Abstract

ROJAS APRAEZ, RAMIRO NEIL  and  AVENDANO CEPEDA, MARISOL. Multilingualism and Exogamy in the Tucano Ethnic Group from Vaupes, Colombia. Cuad. linguist. hisp. [online]. 2018, n.31, pp.37-57. ISSN 0121-053X.

Multilingualism is a prominent phenomenon in the Tucano ethnic group. The main purpose of this research is to describe and analyze the current state of the affairs regarding this specific feature of Tucano culture, in order to identify linguistic and anthropological aspects that play a role in this phenomenon. This research is set within the frame of Sociolin-guistics and Anthropology, employing a qualitative approach, and an ethnographic method based on field work. The main research tools were: participant observation, conversation, and interviews. Given the fact that there is not a single reported case of a family established by endogamic relationship, it can be proved that the Tucano ethnic group still respects the primal rule of exogamy, thus keeping alive the multilingualism among the Tucanos. It was also evidenced that the members of this ethnic group have the ability to communicate effortlessly with people from other cultures, such as the Sirianos, the Desanos and the Cubeos. Finally, an expedition through the Tucano communities located in Brazil showed that Colombian Tucanos were also able to understand Portuguese.

Keywords : sociolinguistics; language contact; multilingualism; Tucano ethnic group; Anthropology; exogamy.

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