Linguistic Postulates
All of the Jaqi languages have two linguistic postulates in common: data-source marking and the human vs. non-human distinction. In Jaqaru, data-source marking is so extensive that it is necessary to most any sentence uttered. Any speaker, in uttering any sentence, must accurately indicate where the knowledge comes from. The three primary categories of data-source marking are: (1) personal knowledge—knowledge acquired by personal experience, (2) knowledge-through language—includes all knowledge gained through the medium of language, and (3) nonpersonal knowledge—appropriate for all situations where witnesses cannot be expected (see Jaqaru Morphology for more explanation).
Data-source marking is done primarily through sentence suffixes and verb tenses. Data-source is applied with equal universality to all morphological structures. Culturally, data-source comes out in the Jaqi people’s tendencies to ask children “What did you say?”, where their accuracy is expected.
Language is considered the distinguishing characteristic of humanness, and plays a large part in the human/non-human linguistic postulate. The cultural norms among the speakers of Jaqaru stress equality among women and men, and community and cooperation over competition and hierarchical structures. The language lacks any structures that denigrate women, rather the grammatical structures affirm humanness. Jaqaru’s value of humans and people in general comes out in its pronouns—one set for human beings, and a separate set for all others, including animals (Hardman-de-Bautista, 1978; Hardman, 1983; Hardman, 2000).
Its ISO 639-3 code is jqr.
Read more about this topic: Jaqaru Language
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