No rastro do couro: uma investigação do campo léxico do couro na cultura do vaqueiro em Riachão do Jacuípe-BA

Abstract

This research investigated the lexical field of leather in cowboy’s culture in Riachão do Jacuípe, Bahia, through the perspective of saddlers and cowboys, two important professional groups in this culture. The objective was to follow the trail of leather and to do a descriptive and interpretive study of cowboy’s culture. The focus was on the repertoire of the lexical field of leather with the intention to investigate the lexical and cultural relations between work tools used by saddlers and cowboys. It also intended to understand the importance of the lexicon as an element of cultural identity. The methodological assumption of Dialectology (Cardoso, 2010) was adopted as the data collection and methodology work. There was a field research involved the application of a questionnaire, interviews and participant observation. The research included 5 saddlers and 12 cowboys, stratified by age and education. They were all born in Riachão do Jacuipe, Bahia. The theoretical framework was surveyed, seeking to intertwine cultural and lexical studies, considering authors such as Faria (1969) and Goulart (1965, 1966) who investigate aspects related to leather and its uses and Coseriu (1979, [1991]) who bases the study of lexical fields. Data analysis was based on a comparison between the questionnaire developed in this research and other ones already validated. A lexicographic research was carried out in five dictionaries from different periods; analysis in geolinguistic studies, such as Mendes’ (1992) and analysis of authors who study cowboy’s culture, such as Nunes (2018) were also done. The data collected show the presence of leather in several spheres of cowboy’s culture - from clothing to work tools, highlighting contributions to language and culture. In the linguistic aspect, there are lexicons that had not been studied previously, revealing themselves to be new in investigations into cowboy’s culture, such as “estar em pano”, “tope” and “lato” and other ones that indicate the lexical choices of different age groups, like “short” used by younger cowboys while older ones use the lexicon “calção”. In the cultural aspect, changes related to customs and behaviors are underway, such as the replacement to traditional items by new references. For example, the exchange of “pelego” for “manta” and “sela vaqueira” for “vaqueirinha”. In addition, other pieces are falling into disuse, such as “buçal” and “xaréu” and their disappearance interferes with the language and intangible culture. The results contribute to understanding the importance of the relationship between language and culture and they point to the need to document the lexicons and cultural traditions in the middle of the changes that have been occurring in cowboy’s culture through contemporary social transformations.