Chipaya case markers -kiś and -kin: Subject and speaker reference

Resumo

In this paper we present a first analysis of two location/direction markers of the Amerindian Chipaya language, which is spoken by ca 1,800 per­sons in the Bolivian Altiplano village of Santa Ana de Chipaya (Dept. Oruro). Distinctive features of the Chipaya case marking system are the directional, indi­rect complement and locative marking suffixes -kiś and -kin. Each covers all three functions. Whilst similar case marking is also found in other languages, Chipaya shows a further peculiarity. The suffix -kiś always marks closeness and always refers to the relationship between subject and complement, but the dis­tance marker -kin behaves differently. With an indirect complement it indicates that the location marked by it is distant from the subject; with a locative com­plement it is the speaker’s standpoint and not the subject that determines its usage.