Wayuu-English-Spanish Dictionary

www.wayuu.webonary.org
their presentation. In the unusual case where such a possessed noun may be used without
reference to a possessor, the noun is suffixed to produce its absolutive form. On the other hand,
most other nouns, when possessed, take one of a set of three possessive suffixes in addition to
the possessor prefix. When we have observed an unpredictable form in either of these cases, it
is included as a variant in the entry, following the abbreviations abs. or poss. respectively.
However, since we have not done a systematic inventory of the selection of these suffixes, the
inclusion of these variants are by no means comprehensive. Like other variants, these may also
be found as alphabetized minor entries unless their proximity to the main entry would render
such separate entry unnecessary.
In some cases, two or more Wayuu words may share a lexical relation, based on meaning or
function. When these relationships have been noted, the related words are cross-referenced to
one another. An abbreviation of the label, in italics, for the type of relationship they share is
presented and the related word or words then follow, separated by a colon. Often these lexical
relations apply to a given sense of a word, in which case this information follows the definition
and any examples. But when the relation is considered to apply to the headword itself, the
related word or words (and type of relation) precedes the part of speech and definition. Some
common types of these relationships are: synonyms, antonyms, and generic-specific such as
types of trees or birds. Others may involve relations where several words comprise a limited set.
For example, a gradation relation might designate a set of words expressing varying degrees of
size or distance. A sequence might describe stages or states in a process, such as growth or
maturity. And, time might relate distinctive points in the passage of time, such as times of day.
General cross references, where no specific relationship has been noted, are marked by the
abbreviation cf. In case the lexical relation applies to a specific sense of the cross-referenced
word, the corresponding sense number is appended to the end of that word.
The Wayuu language also has a substantial number of complex forms, such as: words that are
derived from other words, compound words, and idiomatic phrases formed from two or more
other words. Here these are usually presented as main entries containing their full lexical
information. The type of complex form followed by the word or words from which each is formed
is included in parentheses, following the headword. A complex form may also be included as a
sub-entry, with limited lexical information, under the entry for the principal word from which it is
formed. This serves to demonstrate the relationship between the two. The sub-entry is
formatted like that main entry except that it is bulleted from the left margin. Occasionally a
complex form may relate to a specific sense of an entry, in which case it is presented at the end
of that sense, bulleted and in bold type with similarly limited lexical data.
This dictionary also includes quite a number of affixes as entries. These can be recognized by
the hyphen that precedes or follows the "headword". These are not independent words but
rather are joined before (as a prefix) or after (as a suffix) to a suitable independent word and
modify that word's meaning in the way indicated by the explanatory definition.
Browse English and Browse Spanish
These sections are not intended to be separate dictionaries. Rather, they are reverse indices
generated from the database of the Wayuu-English-Spanish dictionary and present only limited
information. Their purpose is to enable the user to search an alphabetized index of either the
English or Spanish glosses that reference one or more corresponding Wayuu entries, which can
then be accessed to find the full dictionary information there.
12/17/2019