Semantic-cultural analysis of the proper noun in a native language: ashaninka language case

Abstract

From semantics as a linguistic discipline, it is important to analyze the semes at the language level as well as their realization in speech; Discovering the linguistic motivation that establishes the relationship between the plane of form and content is a fundamental objective within the discipline, as well as for this research, but focused on the study of the proper name. Thus, the objectives that direct this research are twofold: to make an initial description of the Ashaninka anthroponymic process and to present a semantic analysis of the functioning of the proper noun in that same language. From the use of methods such as analysis and synthesis, and techniques such as observation and interviewing informants from the native Asháninka community, the main result was that the proper name in this language does need the referent and that not only it denotes, but connotes due to the distancing of its temporal and spatial conditions of its use. It is concluded that in the proper name there is a clear intention or motivation to name in an ancestral way as a strategy to maintain identity and culture.