NATURAL ENGAGEMENTS AND ECOLOGICAL AESTHETICS ...

of this kind of gun. In this second adverb the mouth does not open widely. This imitates the
sound made by a cap that explodes but fails to ignite sufficient powder to propel the shot out of
the barrel. If, in the context of this account, Maxi had used this term, Luis would have known
that the gun failed to fire properly. In another portion of his conversation with Luis, Maxi con-
trasts tya with tas or ta’. These allude to the sound of the hammer striking the cap insufficient-
ly hard to ignite it. Like tey, and unlike tya, the expansion of the mouth and the ensuing sound
that is produced is stopped in these imitations.
The word “e––” imitates the distinctive sound that peccaries make when they are wound-
ed. Because this word follows immediately after the word “tya’,” Luis immediately knows the
animal was hit by the shot. The two adverbs, tya’ and e––, when heard in succession, conjure an
image of a near instantaneous chain reaction; the moment the shot exploded from the gun, the ani-
mal was hit.
Maxi then simulates the frenzy of activity as the wounded peccary frantically tries to
escape into a stream
(with a very low pitched voice)
cuhuá–– hua hua hua hua
[imitation of the cries of a wounded animal]
yacú’- yaculla
right there in the stream
pts’po–’u– rumagri-
with a pts’po–’u– [sound symbolic adverb describing how an entity submerges itself under water] it fell in
“cuhuá–– hua hua hua hua” is identified by listeners as the vocalizations of a terrified wound-
ed animal. Pts’po–’u– (often simply, tsupu) is a sound symbolic adverb that iconically imitates
the process of an object penetrating and then submerging under water. I quote Nuckolls to give
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