Aspects of the Lexicon of Proto-Mayan and its Earliest Descendants

Bibliographic Data

ID23629661
AuthorsTerrence Kaufman (corresponding author)
Year2017
Pages62-111
Publication date2017-05-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueMayan Languages (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9781315192345-4
OpenAlexW4238453601
ISBN9781315192345
LanguageEN
Citations received20

The aim of the present study is to investigate the content and structure of lexical material that can be reconstructed to proto-Mayan and some of its earlier direct descendants. Our main interest is: What did proto-Mayans definitely know and talk about? Knowing this helps us identify the area where proto-Mayans lived (cf. the work on proto-culture and homelands that has been produced by students of the Indo-European languages (e.g., Schrader 1883 ; Childe 1926 ; Dumézil 1958 ; Benveniste 1973 ; Gamkrelidze and Ivanov 1984 ; Mallory 1989 )). It might also help us profile the culture of proto-Mayans in comparison/contrast to contemporaneous non-Mayan cultures. We know a lot about present-day Mayan-speaking populations; we have varying amounts of documentation about Mayan-speaking populations since 1519; some Mayans produced written records between 200 bce and 1700 ce that reflect only a tiny part of their cultural knowledge. (The vast extent of epigraphic, iconographic, ceramic, and architectural material that has survived the years and been found by present-day investigators makes the study of Mayan antiquities a rich and rewarding undertaking.)

Lexicon · Linguistics · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Linguistic Studies and Language Acquisition · Philosophy · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies