Indexical gender and grammatical gender in Chiquitano

Andrey Nikulin
Universidade de Brasília

Abstract. In this study, I examine the phenomena associated with the category of indexical gender in Chiquitano (Bolivia/Brazil, possibly Macro-Jê), with a focus on the interaction between the indexical gender and the grammatical gender. Based on my own recent fieldwork, I highlight a number of important dialectal differences that have so far been neglected in typological studies, which, until now, have taken into account only the data of the innovative Lomeriano dialect. I propose that all Chiquitano varieties other than Lomeriano should be described as having a ternary (rather than binary) gender opposition.

Keywords: indexical gender, grammatical gender, Chiquitano, Macro-Jê languages, morphology

For citation: Nikulin A. Indexical gender and grammatical gender in Chiquitano. Typology of Morphosyntactic Parameters. 2019. Vol. 2, iss. 1. Pp. 86–99.