Studies in Language 36:2 (2012), 300–344. doi 10.1075/sl.36.2.04mih issn 0378–4177 / e-issn 1569–9978 © John Benjamins Publishing Company Ideophones in Alto Perené (Arawak) from Eastern Peru Elena I. Mihas he Cairns Institute, James Cook University his research is a irst attempt to survey ideophones in the Amazonian Arawak language Alto Perené (a.k.a. Ashéninka Perené). Based on ieldwork data, this study shows that ideophones constitute a separate class of words in Alto Perené in view of their distinctive phonological, morphological, syntactic, and seman- tic properties. he study also draws on primary and secondary data from three other genetically related neighboring language varieties (Ashéninka Pichis, Asháninka Tambo-Ene, and Kakinte) to demonstrate a moderate degree of inter- dialect variation. he study suggests the possibility that the following properties may be regional ainities: non-canonical stress assignment; word class-speciic reduplication of the word-inal syllabic segments -ri, -re, -ro, -pi, -po express- ing spatial distribution, intensity, or repeated/durative/open-ended temporal structure of the reported event; productive (V)k-suixation contributing to the expression of punctual/perfective aspect; syntactic functions of appositional or coordinated predicate, co-verb, complement, and adverb; prevalence of Gestalt packaging of sensory events; a dearth of ideophones describing states. Keywords: ideophone, Arawak, Kampan, Ashéninka, regional ainities 1. Introduction his study of Alto Perené ideophones is based on the multi-genre, comprehensive corpus of over 25 hours of audio and video recordings collected during the 2009– 2011 ieldwork in the districts of Chanchamayo and Perené, the Junín department, located on the western fringe of the Peruvian Amazon. 1 Alto Perené, spoken by approximately 1,000 people, belongs to the Northern Kampan dialect chain of Arawak languages (Ashéninka Pichis, Ashéninka Pajonal, Ashéninka Ucayali, Ashéninka Apurucayali, Asháninka Tambo-Ene, Kakinte) (Michael 2008: 218). he language is also known as Ashéninka Perené or Upper Perené (Gordon 2005; Aikhenvald 1999: 68). Speakers of Alto Perené reside in 35 communities nestled