The Mindful Animism of Ideophony in Pastaza and Upper Napo Kichwa

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel perspective for thinking about ideophones, which are imitative words that communicate sensory perceptions and emotions with linguistic sounds and with so-called “paralinguistic” features, especially gesture and intonation. By considering their performative and depictive qualities with concepts from mindfulness and meditative practices, it is argued that a contemplative, mindful impulse underlies their use by Kichwa-speaking Runa living in Amazonian Ecuador. Using concepts from traditional meditation treatises, a contemporary guided meditation, and contemporary ethnographic research, the paper argues that, whatever else may motivate their articulations of ideophones, whether for expressive, humorous, or dramatic purposes, Kichwa speakers are mindfully and meditatively attending to the rising and falling of ordinary perceptions and giving a voice to the dynamic nature of their lived realities. By voicing the dynamic nature of sensory experiences, speakers are also able, momentarily, to become what they imitate, thereby expressing the perspectives of nonhuman beings according to their sounds, movements, appearances, and energies.