Introduction to Amazonian Arawak Hydronymy: Typology and Methods

Abstract

Research on hydronymy in South American territory is practically absent in academic circles, even as the scientific study of hydronyms in Europe has achieved important results in uncovering the presence of ancient European peoples. Hydronymy in Amazonia thus has the potential of shedding more light on the prehistory and movement of ancient Amazonian peoples, especially the Arawak people, due to their long cultural history and extensive expansion through river networks. For this purpose, we undertook a preliminary study of Arawak hydronyms, collected from available dictionaries and grammars, proposing methods of recognition and analysis based on European studies and their technical concepts (e.g. eponymisation or epexegesis). Subsequently, we propose a typology of Arawak hydronyms based on their nominal categorisation system, which is reflected in the mechanisms of noun formation. Thus, we find some hydronymic morphemes which, in some cases, appear combined with a locative marker or historically with a gender marker, but there are alsoothers that will have to be traced and confirmed in future hydronymic research.