A typology of frustrative marking in Amazonian languages

When reading descriptions of Amazonian languages, it is common to find a morpheme labelled frustrative, but although its presence is often remarked upon (see Campbell 2012: 291; Aikhenvald 2012: 183-5), there has been little typological analysis of this category. The present study surveys morphemes labelled frustrative and proposes a cross-linguistically applicable definition; it also assesses its status as an areal feature of Amazonia. I aim to present this little-known grammatical category to linguists working outside the Amazonian area, and to help linguists writing or working with descriptions of Amazonian (and other) languages to recognize and label frustrative markers, and thereby facilitate cross-linguistic comparison. The discussion is guided by two general questions: i. What is a frustrative? ii. Is the category of frustrative an areal feature of Amazonian languages? The first question is answered through proposing a definition and describing the parameters of variation encountered in the languages studied. Addressing the second, I show in section 15.4 that although grammatical marking of frustrative is not unique to Amazonian languages, the evidence does suggest that it is an areal feature