Alliteration and Rhyme in the Traditional Kakataibo Chants of Emilio Estrella Alliteration and Rhyme in the Traditional Kakataibo Chants of Emilio Estrella Alejandro Augusto Prieto Mendoza*1 Abstract: This paper studies alliteration and rhyme in the traditional Kakataibo chants of Emilio Estrella Logía, one of the most important Kakataibo sabios of the present era. For alliteration and rhyme, consonants which are able to be in coda position accord- ing to Kakataibo syllable structure play a central role. Alliteration is sporadic and based on the repetition of fricative consonants in passages of indeterminate length. It occurs in syllable onset and freely within a line and across lines, the latter by adja- cency. Kakataibo rhyme is also sporadic, its domain is the final syllable of the line and the nucleus of it; only the nasal consonant /n/ can occupy coda in end-line syllables. Kakataibo true rhyme, as opposed to rhyme in lists created by repetition or semantic parallelism, is by adjacency and within vowel passages of indeterminate length. Keywords: alliteration, rhyme, Kakataibo, Amazonia, verbal art We are at an early stage regarding the understanding of the verbal art of Amazonian indigenous chants and music, despite its crucial importance for current anthropological theory (Brabec de Mori, Seeger 2013; Déléage 2020; Severi 2008), contemporary basic linguistic theory and language documenta- tion (Epps, Michael 2017). Nonetheless, we have a relatively incipient image of what is happening: the Amazon is a discursive area in which forms and processes of great diffusion converge in particular discursive genres (Beier et al. 2002). Thus, we know that poetic forms such as semantic parallelism, repetition, nonsense syllables, and others, are used among many languages of different linguistic families and in, for example, shamanic discourse, ritual salutation or chants. Little is known about many other poetic forms, whether meter, rhyme, alliteration, etc., which are discussed in the present document. Perhaps the most studied and confirmed poetic form in the Amazon is paral- lelism (Fox 2014; Franchetto, Stenzel 2017; Prieto Mendoza 2019). Likewise, as I have emphasized in previous works (Prieto Mendoza 2019, 2021), it has been claimed that Amerindian verbal art lacks rhyme or meter (Hymes 1977; * Author’s address: Alejandro Augusto Prieto Mendoza, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Amazonia, Kilometro 2 Via Tarapacá, Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia; email: alprietom@unal.edu.co. Studia Metrica et Poetica 9.2, 2022, 92–116 https://doi.org/10.12697/smp.2022.9.2.03 mailto:alprietom@unal.edu.co https://doi.org/10.12697/smp.2022.9.2.03 93Alliteration and Rhyme in the Traditional Kakataibo Chants of Emilio Estrella Edmonson 1971; Tedlock 1977, 1983, 1987, 2010). However, this is too pre- liminary a claim, considering the under-researched situation of verbal art in the Americas, and recent works have argued against this (Michael 2019; Prieto Mendoza, 2021; Skilton 2017). With all this in mind, I present in this article perhaps the first case of alliteration and rhyme for a traditional chant of an indigenous or native Amazonian group. In addition, apart from the novelty of a new case with all its particularities, I discuss in the present paper the singing style and compositional individuality of a specific person: Emilio Estrella Logía (1925/1935? – 2020), sabio of the Yamino Native Community, who, judging by the years I have dedicated to traditional Kakataibo chant, was the most dedicated person to the Kakataibo word and its aesthetics. I hope this article serves as a tribute to his life and work, as well as the recognition of his lyrical capacity within Peruvian verbal tradition. This paper is organized as follows: I present in § 1 some important aspects of Kakataibo phonology relative to my analysis. In § 2, I detail the origin of my data and its limitations. I offer in § 3 a brief account of Kakataibo traditional chant and I present a biographical resumé of Emilio Estrella emphasizing his work in the linguistic documentation of the Kakataibo language. § 4 is a theoretical section on alliteration and rhyme based on typological-comparative studies. I analyze in § 5 alliteration and rhyme in the traditional Kakataibo chant of Emilio Estrella based on cases from no bana ‘iti and ño xakwati chants, and I discuss his use of both poetic forms in relation to the typologi- cal parameters discussed in § 4. I conclude this paper in § 6 by summarizing the main aspects of the employing and linguistic mastery of alliteration and rhyme in Emilio Estrella’s composition, and offering some reflections on the presence of both poetic forms in Amazonian verbal art. 1. Some notes on Kakataibo phonology In order to understand Kakataibo alliteration and rhyme, it is necessary to know three aspects of the phonology of the language: syllable structure and consonants in coda positions, fricative and affricate consonants, and mid vow- els. I show in Tables 1 and 2 the inventory of Kakataibo consonants and vowels, respectively – < > angle brackets indicate orthographical conventions. 94 Alejandro Augusto Prieto Mendoza Table 1. Inventory of Kakataibo consonants Labial Dento- alveolar Palato- alveolar Palatal- retroflex Velar Glottal Stop p
t ʃ , which closes
the set of central “fricative” consonants used by Emilio Estrella. Let us look
the following fourth example in (6):
103Alliteration and Rhyme in the Traditional Kakataibo Chants of Emilio Estrella
(6)
[...]
45. parantima baëxun /x/
‘you cannot fool me, I am brave’
46. ’ësëtima baëxun /x/
‘you cannot advise me, I am brave’
47. ‘axunima ‘ikinma /x/
‘I will not do it to you, you cannot be with me’
48. ‘axunira ‘axunwë
‘doing it right, do it’ /x/ /x/
Apart from what has already discussed so far, I include this last case in the
present article because with it my examples are ended. As I said in previous
sections, alliteration was of very low productivity in Emilio Estrella’s com-
positions; a few lines if we compare it with the three main poetic forms of
Kakataibo verbal art, and unique to him in that only he used it as in the four
cases discussed so far.
To summarize, Emilio Estrella’s alliteration follows these characteristics: (i)
Alliteration occurs in passages of indeterminate length. (ii) Every line must
have at least one retroflex fricative and the affricate , /s, ʃ, ʂ /, can appear in coda position according to
Kakataibo phonology. However, they do not appear in this latter position in
Emilio Estrella’s alliteration. I formalize this in (7):
(7)
C1V(C) C1= /ʂ, s, ʃ/, t
͡ ʃ/
104 Alejandro Augusto Prieto Mendoza
Emilio Estrella’s alliteration seems to be restricted only to the onset of syllables
with natural or non-lengthened vowels. The only apparent “contradiction” are
monosyllables with alliteration, as in can occupy this position according to the
Kakataibo syllable structure, but they cannot be in coda of end-line syllables
for Kakataibo rhyme purposes.
Furthermore, the last syllable of each line not only rhymes by that nasal
coda, but also in other ways and parts of the syllable. For example, lines 4–5
share the same onset and coda, but not the nucleus, in a (NVN) rhyme. Similar
situation between lines 8–9, which share the nucleus, , plus the coda and the affricate