article
Maricopa foods: a native taxonomic system
International journal of American linguistics • 34 (1) • Published In 1968 • Pages: 16-20
By: Frisch, Jack A..
Abstract
This article is a discussion of how foods are classified, beginning with the Maricopa distinction between "anything that is edible or [n]čamač[/n] (food)" and "things that are not edible." Within the domain of [n]čamač[/n], the Maricopa identify a number of additional categories, defined both syntactically and semantically. The central argument is that these categories are lexical sets that are mutually exclusive, contrasting at the same level of classification. [n]Čamač[/n] includes, at the next lower level, items defined by the verb form they take in a sentence. The author elaborates this distinction by discussing the layers of meanings the Maricopa attribute to the phrase "I am eating." A similar distinction is noted to occur in Navajo.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2015
- Region
- North America
- Sub Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Teferi Abate Adem ; 2014
- Field Date
- Not specified
- Coverage Date
- 1950-1966
- Coverage Place
- Gila River and Salt River Reservations, Maricopa and Pinal counties, Arizona, United States
- Notes
- Jack A. Frisch
- Published at Waverly Press by Indiana University, under the auspices of the Linguist Society of America, American Anthropological Association with the cooperation of the Conference on American Indian Languages
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCN
- 22009284
- LCSH
- Maricopa Indians