(In)alienabilidad

The existence of possessive classes is a very widespread feature in the languages of the world (except in Eurasia) and it is a very notable fact in a number of Northwestern Amazon languages, which most often show an opposition between inalienable nouns (dependent) and alienable nouns (independent) expressed through morphology and having consequences at several levels of grammar. Some nouns may stay outside the bipartite opposition of (in)alienability and be 'un-possessed'. The Tikuna language - and to the extent it is possible to detect it, also the Yuri language - clearly express a difference between possessive classes that goes beyond morphology and is manifested in the predicative structures of possession and in nominal incorporation, among other areas. The ‘alienator’ and ‘des-alienator’ morphemes and constructions, very typical of Arawak languages, are also partially expressed in Tikuna. Yuri language data and other data of possibly extinct Arawak languages of the Northwest Amazon are presented here. Topics related to the semantic content of (in)alienability, cultural and environmental correlations, as well as the consequences of contact in possessive classification are discussed.