A gramática do bem-estar na perspectiva do povo a’uwẽ uptabi (Xavante): concepções e valores culturais de saúde/doença

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to investigate and analyze linguistic expressions and grammatical constructions that express notions regarding health and illness from the perspective of the A’uwẽ uptabi (Xavante) people. The research is bibliographic and documentary, in which the linguistic data analyzed in this study were extracted from the works of McLeod and Mitchell (1977) and Lachnitt (1987). The description and interpretation of the data were based on the proposal by Aikhenvald (2021), which establishes eight event schemes around which different languages tend to express concepts related to diseases. We identified the occurrence of the Predication Scheme – state (A-i) and process (A-ii), and the Acquisition Scheme with 'agentive' disease. The results achieved point to a well-developed terminology in the field of disease semantics, as well as indicating cultural practices that cause of diseases through witchcraft and cures that still exist or have been abandoned due to contact with non-indigenous society.