DOCSLIB.ORG

How to Cite Complete Issue More Information About This Article

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How to Cite Complete Issue More Information About This Article Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México ISSN: 2007-736X El Colegio de México A.C. Armstrong, Grant The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México, vol. 4, no. 2, 2017, July-December, pp. 137-212 El Colegio de México A.C. Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=525954564004 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System Redalyc More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Journal's webpage in redalyc.org Portugal Project academic non-profit, developed under the open access initiative ISSN: 2007–736X Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2), jul–dic 2017, pp. 137–212. ARTÍCULO The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya La sintaxis de la predicación no verbal en maya yucateco Grant Armstrong University of Wisconsin-Madison, Estados Unidos [email protected] Original recibido: 2016/07/13 Dictamen enviado al autor: 2016/11/11 Aceptado: 2017/05/03 Abstract The objective of this paper is to fill a void in the formal syntactic literature on Mayan languages by proposing a syntactic structure for clauses with non-verbal predicates in Yucatec Maya. The paper attempts to integrate the rich descriptions of non-verbal predicate constructions found in more functionally-oriented ac- counts (Lehmann 2002 [1998]; Verhoeven 2007; Vapnarsky 2013) with insights from the generative literature on argument licensing and clause structure in Mayan languages (Coon 2016 for an overview) as well as small clauses (Citko 2011 for an overview). I conclude that non-verbal sentences in Yucatec are ma- trix small clauses embedded under an Infl node, which is the locus for finiteness/ stative aspect rather than tense morphology. This simple structure, coupled with independently motivated operations that have been proposed for small clauses and argument licensing/word order in Mayan languages, is able to account for a range of properties of these sentences that improves upon previous accounts developed in Armstrong (2010), Pye (2011) and Coon (2014). Key words: non-verbal predicates, small clauses, Yucatec Maya Cómo citar: Armstrong, Grant. 2017. The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya. Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2). pp. 137–212. 138 Armstrong, G. 2017. The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir a los estudios de sintaxis formal de las lenguas mayas mediante un análisis de las cláusulas con un predicado no verbal del maya yucateco. El trabajo pretende integrar las detalladas descripciones de las construcciones de predicado no verbal que se encuentran en la literatura de orientación funcional (Lehmann 2002 [1998]; Verhoeven 2007; Vapnars- ky 2013) con las recientes propuestas generativistas sobre la legitimación de argumentos y la estructura oracional de las lenguas mayas (véase Coon 2016) y las llamadas cláusulas mínimas (del inglés “small clause”, véase Citko 2011). Se concluye que las oraciones no verbales en maya yucateco son cláusulas mí- nimas incrustadas bajo una proyección Flex (=Infl), que sirve como el núcleo de finitud/aspecto estativo en vez de flexión de tiempo. Se argumenta que esta estructura sencilla y una serie de operaciones morfosintácticas previamente pro- puestas para explicar ciertos aspectos de las cláusulas mínimas y la legitimación de argumentos/orden de palabras en las lenguas mayas permiten dar cuenta de una gama de propiedades de las oraciones no verbales, lo cual representa una mejora con respecto a los análisis previos de Armstrong (2010), Pye (2011) y Coon (2014). Palabras clave: predicados no verbales, cláusulas mínimas, maya yucateco 1. INTRODUCTION Yucatec Maya (Yucatec) and other Mayan languages have fully-fledged sentences that consist only of a non-verbal predicate and a bound mor- pheme that cross-references the argument of that predicate, labeled Set B in the Mayanist literature. In Yucatec, the Set B morpheme attaches to the right edge of the predicate as in (1). Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2), jul–dic 2017, pp. 137–212. Armstrong, G. 2017. The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya 139 (1) a. Koolnáal-en b. Muk’a’an-ech farmer-B1SG strong-BSG ‘I am a farmer’ ‘You are strong’ The objective of this paper is to present a step-by-step argument in favor of analyzing sentences like (1) as in (2). (2) a. Basic configuration [InflP Infl[-dyn], [u], [EPP] [SC [NP koolnáal] [DP -en] ] ] b. Agreement [InflP Infl[-dyn], [u], [EPP] [SC [NP koolnáal] [DP -en] ] ] c. Cliticization [InflP Infl[-dyn], [u], [EPP] [SC [NP koolnáal-en] [DP -en] ] ] d. EPP-driven movement to spec, InflP [InflP [NP koolnáal-en] Infl[-dyn], [u], [EPP] [SC [NP koolnáal-en] [DP -en] ] ] The main claims made are as follows. All non-verbal predicate sen- tences in Yucatec are generated in a basic configuration that consists of a small clause constituent, which establishes the subject-predicate relationship, and an Infl head that acts as the locus of finiteness and stative aspect (specified as [-dyn] since it is in opposition with dynamic Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2), jul–dic 2017, pp. 137–212. 140 Armstrong, G. 2017. The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya or eventive aspect and mood markers). The Infl[-dyn] head is endowed with uninterpretable features that drive the syntactic derivation in three steps: (i) agreement, (ii) cliticization and (iii) EPP-driven movement. First, a [u ] feature on Infl[-dyn] must be valued and eliminated by the interpretable phi-features of the subject (2b). This agreement relation is also the source of abstract case (absolutive here) for the subject. If the subject is a bound Set B morpheme as in (1), agreement is followed by cliticization. As shown in (2c), the subject cliticizes to the right of the predicate. Finally, Infl[-dyn] has an EPP feature that requires phonological content in its specifier. Since the subject is cliticized to the predicate in (2), the entire complex moves as a unit to spec, InflP. The rest of the paper motivates each of these steps. §2 presents an empirical and theoretical background of hierarchical structure, mor- pheme ordering and argument licensing in verbs and other categories so as to give a more complete picture of the main descriptive properties of Yucatec and how these have been analyzed theoretically. It is a some- what lengthy background section, but it makes for a clearer picture of how verbal and non-verbal predication structures are connected in the language. §3 gives an overview of the main descriptive properties of non-verbal predicates and discusses the shortcomings of previous anal- yses. At the end of the section, I demonstrate how the proposal in (2) improves upon these previous analyses. §4 presents detailed derivations of non-verbal sentences with much more complexity than those in (1), showing how the basic mechanism in (2), when combined with oth- er independently motivated operations, accounts for many heretofore unanalyzed properties of these sentences. §5 concludes. Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2), jul–dic 2017, pp. 137–212. Armstrong, G. 2017. The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya 141 2. BACKGROUND The main objective of this section is to outline a working theory of morpheme ordering and argument licensing in Yucatec by looking first at verb phrases and then at the internal structure of phrases headed by other categories. This will serve not only to provide a background on the basic morpho-syntax of the language but also frame the issues that non-verbal predicates raise both empirically and theoretically, which are outlined in §3. 2.1. Te syntax of the verbal template or complex Yucatec is a null subject and object language in which a verbal template or complex may instantiate a fully-fledged clause that lacks overt lex- ical arguments.1 Such clauses consist of an aspect/mood (AM) marker followed by the verb. The verb itself is composed of three main parts: a root and transitivity marker (verb stem), a suffix known as “status” in the Mayanist literature (Kaufman 1990), which will be explained in more detail below, and a set of morphemes that cross-reference verbal 1 See Blair 1964; Bricker 1981; Lehmann 1993; 2002 [1998]; Bricker et. al. 1998; Boh- nemeyer 2002; Lois & Vapnarsky 2003; Briceño Chel 2006; Verhoeven 2007 for detailed des- criptions of YM clause structure, among other phenomena. The descriptions in this section are based primarily on the observations in these works and not on original observations or data. For details on information structure, relative clauses, word order of full DP arguments, and different types of embedding see Durbin & Ojeda 1978; Bohnemeyer 2002; Briceño Chel 2002; Gutiérrez Bravo & Monforte 2010; Gutiérrez Bravo 2015a; 2015b; Verhoeven & Skopeteas 2015. Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2), jul–dic 2017, pp. 137–212. 142 Armstrong, G. 2017. The syntax of non-verbal predication in Yucatec Maya arguments, labeled Set A and Set B, respectively. The examples in (3–5) provide illustrations of these basic components of Yucatec clause struc- ture using a transitive and intransitive verb in the three main inflection- al patterns. (3) Incompletive/indicative pattern. a. Táan in líi’-s-ik-ech PROG A1SG raise-CAUS-TR.INC-BSG ‘I’m lifting you up’ b. Táan in wen-el PROG A1SG sleep-INTR.INC ‘I am sleeping’ (4) Completive pattern. a. T-in líi’-s-aj-ech CP-A1SG raise-CAUS-TR.CP-BSG ‘I lifted you up’ b. J wen-Ø-ech CP sleep-INTR.CP-BSG ‘You slept’ Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 4(2), jul–dic 2017, pp.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Political Economy of Linguistic and Social Exchange Among The
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 Mayas, Markets, and Multilingualism: The Political Economy of Linguistic and Social Exchange in Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico Stephanie Joann Litka Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MAYAS, MARKETS, AND MULTILINGUALISM: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LINGUISTIC AND SOCIAL EXCHANGE IN COBÁ, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO By STEPHANIE JOANN LITKA A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Copyright 2012 Stephanie JoAnn Litka All Rights Reserved Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2012 Stephanie JoAnn Litka defended this dissertation on October 28, 2011 . The members of the supervisory committee were: Michael Uzendoski Professor Directing Dissertation Robinson Herrera University Representative Joseph Hellweg Committee Member Mary Pohl Committee Member Gretchen Sunderman Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the [thesis/treatise/dissertation] has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii For the people of Cobá, Mexico Who opened their homes, jobs, and hearts to me iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My fieldwork in Cobá was generously funded by the National Science Foundation, the Florida State University Center for Creative Research, and the Tinker Field Grant. I extend heartfelt gratitude to each organization for their support. In Mexico, I thank first and foremost the people of Cobá who welcomed me into their community over twelve years ago. I consider this town my second home and cherish the life-long friendships that have developed during this time.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Principles of the Use of Macro-Areas Language Dynamics &A
    Online Appendix for Harald Hammarstr¨om& Mark Donohue (2014) Some Principles of the Use of Macro-Areas Language Dynamics & Change Harald Hammarstr¨om& Mark Donohue The following document lists the languages of the world and their as- signment to the macro-areas described in the main body of the paper as well as the WALS macro-area for languages featured in the WALS 2005 edi- tion. 7160 languages are included, which represent all languages for which we had coordinates available1. Every language is given with its ISO-639-3 code (if it has one) for proper identification. The mapping between WALS languages and ISO-codes was done by using the mapping downloadable from the 2011 online WALS edition2 (because a number of errors in the mapping were corrected for the 2011 edition). 38 WALS languages are not given an ISO-code in the 2011 mapping, 36 of these have been assigned their appropri- ate iso-code based on the sources the WALS lists for the respective language. This was not possible for Tasmanian (WALS-code: tsm) because the WALS mixes data from very different Tasmanian languages and for Kualan (WALS- code: kua) because no source is given. 17 WALS-languages were assigned ISO-codes which have subsequently been retired { these have been assigned their appropriate updated ISO-code. In many cases, a WALS-language is mapped to several ISO-codes. As this has no bearing for the assignment to macro-areas, multiple mappings have been retained. 1There are another couple of hundred languages which are attested but for which our database currently lacks coordinates.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Language Use, Language Change and Innovation In
    LANGUAGE USE, LANGUAGE CHANGE AND INNOVATION IN NORTHERN BELIZE CONTACT SPANISH By OSMER EDER BALAM A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2016 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and support from many people, who have been instrumental since the inception of this seminal project on contact Spanish outcomes in Northern Belize. First and foremost, I am thankful to Dr. Mary Montavon and Prof. Usha Lakshmanan, who were of great inspiration to me at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Thank you for always believing in me and motivating me to pursue a PhD. This achievement is in many ways also yours, as your educational ideologies have profoundly influenced me as a researcher and educator. I am indebted to my committee members, whose guidance and feedback were integral to this project. In particular, I am thankful to my adviser Dr. Gillian Lord, whose energy and investment in my education and research were vital for the completion of this dissertation. I am also grateful to Dr. Ana de Prada Pérez, whose assistance in the statistical analyses was invaluable to this project. I am thankful to my other committee members, Dr. Benjamin Hebblethwaite, Dr. Ratree Wayland, and Dr. Brent Henderson, for their valuable and insighful comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to scholars who have directly or indirectly contributed to or inspired my work in Northern Belize. These researchers include: Usha Lakshmanan, Ad Backus, Jacqueline Toribio, Mark Sebba, Pieter Muysken, Penelope Gardner- Chloros, and Naomi Lapidus Shin.
    [Show full text]
  • Snapshots of Yucatec Maya Language Practices: Language Policy and Planning Activities in the Yucatán Peninsula
    Working Papers in Educational Linguistics (WPEL) Volume 32 Number 1 Spring 2017 Article 4 Spring 2017 Snapshots of Yucatec Maya Language Practices: Language Policy and Planning Activities in the Yucatán Peninsula Aldo Anzures Tapia Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/wpel Part of the Education Commons, and the Linguistics Commons Recommended Citation Anzures Tapia, A. (2017). Snapshots of Yucatec Maya Language Practices: Language Policy and Planning Activities in the Yucatán Peninsula. 32 (1), Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/wpel/vol32/iss1/4 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/wpel/vol32/iss1/4 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Snapshots of Yucatec Maya Language Practices: Language Policy and Planning Activities in the Yucatán Peninsula Abstract Metaphors, although many times more poetic than political, have been instrumental in understanding the complexity of language policy and planning (LPP). In this paper, I refer to and compare photographic processing to current LPP activities in Quintana Roo, the newest Mexican state. Based on corpus analyses of policy texts and ethnographic snapshots, this paper investigates how sectors such as health, social development, human rights, and justice employ Indigenous languages in ways that complement but also contradict LPP activities at the national, regional, and state levels. Overall, this research widens the LPP lens by inviting educational researchers to tell more stories behind the pictures,
    [Show full text]
  • Prominence in Yucatec Maya: the Role of Stress in Yucatec Maya Words
    Prominence in Yucatec Maya: The Role of Stress in Yucatec Maya Words Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Kidder, Emily Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 01/10/2021 00:12:57 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/293432 PROMINENCE IN YUCATEC MAYA: THE ROLE OF STRESS IN YUCATEC MAYA WORDS by Emily Kidder __________________________ Copyright © Emily Kidder 2013 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENTS OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2013 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Emily Kidder, titled Prominence in Yucatec Maya: The role of stress in Yucatec Maya words and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 4/8/2013 Michael Hammond _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 4/8/2013 Norma Mendoza-Denton _______________________________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Shifting Language Ideologies Among Young Maya Professionals: Overcoming Purism in Yucatán
    Cru J. Shifting Language Ideologies among Young Maya Professionals: Overcoming Purism in Yucatán. Critical Multilingualism Studies 2016, 4(2), 111-132. Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ . The article was published in Critical Multilingualism Studies by University of Arizona. DOI link to article: http://cms.arizona.edu/index.php/multilingual/article/view/103 Date deposited: 16/02/2017 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License Newcastle University ePrints - eprint.ncl.ac.uk Josep Cru Newcastle University SHIFTING LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES AMONG YOUNG MAYA PROFESSIONALS: OVERCOMING PURISM IN YUCATÁN Abstract: This paper looks at the ideologies of language purism among young Maya professionals from the Yu- catán peninsula of Mexico. After an introduction to language purism and its influence on revitalisation processes, I analyse the narratives of some young adults and their professional development and con- trast them with those of some Maya intellectuals and teachers. In a context of widespread indigenous language abandonment, these bilingual professionals have been through a process of strengthening their ethnic identity and currently show a committed attitude towards the maintenance and reproduc- tion of the Maya language. According to their narratives, a fundamental ideological shift during a par- ticular life stage, namely studying Sociolinguistics at higher education institutions, has been determi- nant for adopting a more flexible stance towards language contact between Spanish and Maya and pur- ism. I argue that their shift in linguistic ideologies counterbalances pervasive stigmatisation of so called ‘mixed’ varieties of Maya, increases the valorisation and the legitimation of vernacular Maya, and ultimately works towards language revitalisation.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Riverside UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Riverside UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Colonial K'iche' in Comparison with Yucatec Maya: Language, Adaptation, and Intercultural Contact Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2c23t4jq Author Jones, Owen H. Publication Date 2009 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Colonial K’iche’ in Comparison With Yucatec Maya: Language, Adaptation, and Intercultural Contact A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by Owen Harold Jones June 2009 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Robert W. Patch, Chairperson Dr. James P. Brennan Dr. Kevin Terraciano Copyright by Owen Harold Jones 2009 The Dissertation of Owen Harold Jones is approved: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all of the scholars who have lent their expertise to the completion of this dissertation. First, I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, Dr. Robert W. Patch for his advice, several letters, and never faltering support for my project. I would like to thank Dr. James P. Brennan for his words of encouragement and letters. I would also like to thank Dr. Kevin Terraciano for accepting the invitation to be on my dissertation committee. His expertise with indigenous notarial documents was greatly valued. I would especially like to acknowledge Sharon Mujica for allowing me the opportunity to learn Yucatec Maya with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Duke Consortium for Latin American Studies Yucatec Maya Intensive Language program in 2001, again in 2004, and for a third advanced level in 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Colonial K'iche' in Comparison with Yucatec Maya
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Colonial K’iche’ in Comparison With Yucatec Maya: Language, Adaptation, and Intercultural Contact A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by Owen Harold Jones June 2009 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Robert W. Patch, Chairperson Dr. James P. Brennan Dr. Kevin Terraciano Copyright by Owen Harold Jones 2009 The Dissertation of Owen Harold Jones is approved: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all of the scholars who have lent their expertise to the completion of this dissertation. First, I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, Dr. Robert W. Patch for his advice, several letters, and never faltering support for my project. I would like to thank Dr. James P. Brennan for his words of encouragement and letters. I would also like to thank Dr. Kevin Terraciano for accepting the invitation to be on my dissertation committee. His expertise with indigenous notarial documents was greatly valued. I would especially like to acknowledge Sharon Mujica for allowing me the opportunity to learn Yucatec Maya with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Duke Consortium for Latin American Studies Yucatec Maya Intensive Language program in 2001, again in 2004, and for a third advanced level in 2008. I also extend my gratitude for the Foreign Language and Area Studies grants that I received from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Madison, Wisconsin, and Duke University for the three years that I studied Yucatec Maya.
    [Show full text]
  • The Production of Maya Scientific Expertise and Models of Personhood in the Yucatan Today
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2016 Making Maya Linguistics, Making Maya Linguists: The Production Of Maya Scientific Expertise And Models Of Personhood In The Yucatan Today Catherine R. Rhodes University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Linguistics Commons, and the Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons Recommended Citation Rhodes, Catherine R., "Making Maya Linguistics, Making Maya Linguists: The Production Of Maya Scientific Expertise And Models Of Personhood In The Yucatan Today" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2548. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2548 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2548 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Making Maya Linguistics, Making Maya Linguists: The Production Of Maya Scientific Expertise And Models Of Personhood In The Yucatan Today Abstract In this dissertation, I explore what it means to be Maya in the Yucatan today. I focus my research on a higher education program in Maya linguistics where Maya is used as a language of instruction. To do this, faculty and students are creating the words and concepts with which to talk about linguistics ich maaya ‘in the Maya language’, something previously only done in other languages, like Spanish. This is about expanding the conceptual work that can be done in the Maya language, but it also about creating new scientific objects—new linguistics terminology; new categorizations of the language; and a new category of persons, native-Maya-speaking linguists.
    [Show full text]
  • From Yucatec Maya Time Gestures to Yucatec Maya Sign Language Time Signs
    An exploration in the domain of time: from Yucatec Maya time gestures to Yucatec Maya Sign Language time signs Olivier Le Guen Introduction Time is generally considered an abstract conceptual domain and although it can be divided on the basis of more or less complex calendar calculations, all human cultural groups have some ways of expressing temporal relations in language, which can be spoken or signed. This chapter discusses how linguistic divisions for time have been constructed in an emerging language, Yucatec Maya Sign Language (hereafter YMSL) used by individuals in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Because of its sociolinguistic setting, YMSL is actively in contact not only with spoken Yucatec Maya but also with Yucatec Maya co-speech gestures that provide signers with manual input for the construction of the time domain. I will argue that Yucatec Maya speakers produce gestures with time reference that have been taken up and adapted in YMSL by signers. Languages have diverse strategies for the linguistic expression of time (see Klein, 2010 for a comprehensive review). This chapter focuses on the deictic and sequential expression of time in Yucatec Maya speech and gesture and in YMSL. In the deictic expression of time, the time of an event is localized with respect to the time of the production of speech (e.g. I’ll leave tomorrow), while in the sequential expression of time, events are often related to each other independently of the time of speech production (e.g. I will leave after the party, August follows July). Many languages use spatial metaphors to talk about time and Fauconnier and Turner (2008, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Personal Names Are Probably Nearly Universal, and Yet There Has Been Very Little Systematic Study of Them
    FR0.\1 PAHALLEL-:1\0MINAL TO PATIUNOMINAL: CHAl\GL'\G CUlCATEC PEHSONAL NAMES H.oBERT HuNT 0 EvA HuNTn RoBERTo \VEITLANER O. I ntroduction Personal names are probably nearly universal, and yet there has been very little systematic study of them. This is in spite of the fact that if they are inherited, they may provide some leverage in the analysis of the descent system of the society in which they occur. As a consequence of the little attention that has been paid to the inheritance systems of personal names, there has been no attempt to classify or even canvas the types which occur. We know that there are patronyms, and that they are inherited patrilincally, and it has been assumed that this system is standard throught the Western world. A few other patterns of naming have been reported. The main purpose of this paper is to prescnt the analysis of a parallel-nomi­ nal maming system which has hitherto been mentioned only very briefly in the literature on Mesoamerica. We also analyze the steps by which the population of one Cuicatec village changed their naming system from parallel-nominal to pa­ trimonial in the course of the last 150 years. Secondarily, we discuss how a primarily linguistic cultural pattern ( which is not a kinship term network) seems to correlatc with severa! features of the social organization. To this end we review the literature on naming systems in Mesoamerica, present the analysis of a large amount of new data, ancl relate this new evidence to some aspects of the social structure of thc Cuicatec town of San Andrés.
    [Show full text]
  • Being Deaf in a Yucatec Maya Community: Communication and Identity Negotiation
    Being Deaf in a Yucatec Maya Community: Communication and Identity Negotiation Jennifer Paige MacDougall Department of Anthropology McGill University, Montreal, Quebec July 2012 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Jennifer Paige MacDougall, July 2012 Elements of the thesis are considered original scholarship and distinct contributions to knowledge. ii Abstract My dissertation sheds light on multilayered experiences of identity in an indigenous, Yucatec Maya community where both deaf and hearing persons use sign language. Owing to the history of Spanish colonialism in this region, and as a result of state approaches which see deafness as pathology, the peoples of Chican acquiesce to assumptions about their identity without necessarily emulating these assertions within community life. At the time I carried out fieldwork, identity assertions in Chican appeared to be reactive, therefore ephemeral, rather than based on some inherent essentialized quality. This was the case for deaf members of the community, and also for the community at large, both of whom negotiate identity labels strategically and continually in a passive form of resistance to hierarchical traditions of social labeling. I consider subjective, collective, and imposed identities in light of local and global assumptions about what it means to be Deaf, or to be Maya. Methodologically, I use ethnographic inquiry to explore the nature of communication in my field site by engaging passively with my interlocutors in their daily life activities. Allowing local people to carve out my role in the community, I became engaged in educational and recreational workshops facilitating my observance of integrated sign language use.
    [Show full text]