Ye'kwana

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Variant orthographies
ALIV öönema
Brazilian standard äänema
New Tribes äänema

Etymology

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From öt- (intransitivizer) +‎ enema (to abide by (a prohibition)).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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öönema

  1. (intransitive, agentive) to observe the ritual prohibitions of so-calledfasting’: not to bathe in the river while bleeding, not to have sex, not to participate in community rituals and festivals, not to touch soap, not to eat certain meats, drink manioc beer, or smoke tobacco, but instead to eat and sleep alone and only eat the most ritually pure foods such as motto worms and the wokkiya bird

Derived terms

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References

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  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “öönema”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[1], Lyon
  • Lauer, Matthew Taylor (2005) Fertility in Amazonia: Indigenous Concepts of the Human Reproductive Process Among the Ye’kwana of Southern Venezuela[2], Santa Barbara: University of California, page 248:wänemanä