We wish to understand the repercussions of exchange on linguistic behaviour in contact situations. For exchange, we are interested in things such as norms and ideologies surrounding language and ways of speaking around gift exchange, and spaces with ceremonial speech styles.
Exchange: (semi-)codified practices of exchange that regulate relationships between individuals and groups as a result. For the purposes of this questionnaire we consider exchange to be characterisable more-so in terms of relationship-building rather than transaction. The motivations for forming the relationships may be various. Our definition of exchange encompasses gift exchange and ceremonial exchange.
For the purposes of the questionnaire, exchange should be treated as distinct from trade. The operational definition of trade is "the explicit promise of immediate gains or returns, and concerns the acquisition of object, money, or service. Acquisition and transaction of such things is a primary motivator of trade." The emphasis is on the transactional element of interaction. For exchange, then, the transactional characteristic is either absent or ambiguous. In traditional societies, gift and ceremonial exchange tend to occur between people that are related by kin or other types of close relationships, while trade tends to occur between people and groups that are not intimately connected with each other. Gift and ceremonial exchanges can also occur between rival groups, as a form of negotiation and a sign of mutual recognition.
Gift exchange: The exchanging of gifts. Gift exchange can occur at the individual and group-level, between people of similar social status (horizontal exchange) or across social ranks (vertical exchange), and can be more-or-less ritualised. Gift giving entails expectations of return (reciprocal gift giving) but can also function as a mere statement of prestige (of the donor over the recipient, and the other way around) without necessarily implying reciprocity.
Ceremonial Exchange
The po’o a is a ceremonial exchange ritual practiced in the Vaupés (Northwestern Amazonia) to celebrate “life-cycle passages, such as naming, female puberty, male initiation and marriage” (Chernela 2003: 797). The po’oa brings together people from different sib settlements, all of which traditionally practice linguistic exogamy with patrilineal descent and patrilocal postmarital residence rules. The po’oa is thus an opportunity for married women to meet with their own descent group and close kinsmen. The high symbolic relevance of this event is linguistically marked by the kana basa, the weeping salutations, a type of sung speech performed by women in their own patrilect. The language exchange proceeds in turns and is accompanied by ritual beer offering. The structure and motives of the kana basa revolve around women’s outsider condition, with respect to their own kin and the kin of the respective husbands and children. The kana basa is thus an example of how ceremonial exchanges can be associated with highly codified speech styles, which are in turn grounded in the specifics of the contact situation where the exchange occurs (for details about the structure and motives of the kana basa, see Chernela 2003).
A world-famous example of ceremonial exchange is the kula, a complex system of exchange centred around the circulation of armshells for necklaces, and regulating inter-island networks and political alliances among the inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea (Malinowski 1984[1922]).
Ceremonial exchanges are highly ritualised forms of good exchange, which entail public display of the goods to be exchanged, and the involvement of the whole community in the act of exchange.
Ceremonial exchanges often revolve around interaction between kin groups as defined through intermarriage patterns, and ultimately regulate political alliances between the parties involved (Strathern & Stewart 2012: 239). One defining characteristics of ceremonial exchange is delayed reciprocity, which means that the exchange and return of gifts are made on different ceremonial occasions and thus spread over time.
Gift and ceremonial exchanges can also occur between rival groups, as a form of negotiation and a sign of mutual recognition (Strathern & Stewart 2012: 242, 253).
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