David Mora-Marín
Biographic Data
| ID | 709605 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Mora-Marín |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Mora-Marín |
| SIGNATURE | MORA-MARÍN D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9945-2389 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 49 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
A historical sociolinguistic study of two linguistic variables in epigraphic Mayan during the classic period
This paper applies a historical sociolinguistic framework to the study of Epigraphic Mayan (EMY), a logosyllabic writing system (ca. 400 bce–ce 1700) innovated by speakers of the Ch’olan and Yucatecan (Mayan) languages. Two variables are studied: 1) the Common Ch’olan *h, *j > /j/ merger (/j/ = IPA /x/); and 2) Common Ch’olan ʔaj= ∼ ʔa= ‘male/large/active proclitic classifier’. For each variable, a comprehensive dataset was compiled using the May…
Lexico-semantic stability in the anatomical domain in the Mayan language family
This paper deals with lexico-semantic stability, specifically in the anatomical domain. The main goal is to develop a method for measuring semantic polysemy and shift, in order to address: (1) the validity of standardized vocabulary lists (e.g., Swadesh 1950 , 1952 , 1955 ; Holman et al. 2008 ; Haspelmath & Tadmor 2009a , 2009b ) for investigating cross-linguistic stability; and (2) the difference between basic and stable vocabulary ( Ratliff 200…
Historical Sociolinguistics of the Classic Maya Lowlands
This paper applies a historical sociolinguistic framework to the study of Epigraphic Mayan (EMY), a logosyllabic writing system (ca. 400 BCE-CE 1700) innovated by speakers of the Ch’olan and Yucatecan (Mayan) languages. The focus is a morphological variable, the Generic Preposition, tä ~ ti. Following background information on Mayan historical linguistics and epigraphy, and a review of prior literature on the Generic Preposition, the paper descri…
A reappraisal of the development of the Mayan Syllabary
This paper revisits the problem of the derivation of phonographic signs in Mayan writing (cf. Mora-Marín 2003 ). The primary goal is to evaluate Lacadena’s ( 2010a , 2010b ) proposal that the Mayan syllabary was initially derived through the wholesale adoption of a Mixe-Zoquean-based script. Lacadena argued that Mayan syllabograms based on consonants shared by both Mayan and Mixe-Zoquean generally lack acrophonic explanations, while syllabograms …
The duplication diacritic
This article studies the duplication diacritic of Epigraphic Mayan (ISO 639-3 emy) during the Classic period ( a.d. 200–900). Cataloged as grapheme 22A, it consists of two dots optionally and rarely affixed to another grapheme to command the reader, in the majority of cases, to read a syllabogram twice in sequence. This article reviews prior literature on the diacritic, elaborates a typology of four distinct but ultimately related functions, and …
Evidence for lexical and phonetic determinatives in Mayan writing
This article utilizes the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2022) to study the spellings of three glyphic values based on T713 (Thompson 1962), namely, the logogram K′AB′ ‘hand, arm’ ( n = 88), the logogram K′AL ‘to close, wrap, adorn’ ( n = 484), and the syllabogram mi ( n = 68), cataloged as MZ1, MR1, and MR2, respectively, by Looper et al. (2022). The main goal is to study the functions of certain graphemes typically placed ato…
On the systematic nature of writing systems
Evidence, New and Old, Against the Late *k(’) > *ch(’) Areal Shift Hypothesis
La Estela 87 de Tak’alik Ab’aj
The discovery of Stela 87 in situ in a secondary context, as a reused element of sacralization in a possibly royal residence from the Early Classic, allows us to locate the time of the original function as a stela in the Late Preclassic. It is in the Late Preclassic that the image and the text with 4 glyphic signs allude to the ruler represented there. It is in the early part of the Late Preclassic that stelae at Tak’alik Ab’aj and other early ci…
The Historical Reconstruction of Greater Tzeltalan (Mayan) Vowel Assimilation and Vowel Raising Patterns
This paper examines the phenomenon of vowel assimilation at a distance in di‐ and trisyllabic roots and stems in the Greater Tzeltalan languages of the Mayan language family. The study focuses on changes undergone in disyllabic and trisyllabic roots and stems, characterized by either anticipatory or perseverative vowel assimilation, and discusses the historical scenarios relevant to their reconstruction to the various relevant stages (Proto‐Great…
The regularizing, analogical effect of metathesis in Modern Ch'ol (Mayan)
This article examines two instances of metathesis that have occurred in Ch'ol (Mayan) since the late 18th century. While at first, they may seem to be cases of irregular, sporadic change, a closer look at constraints involving ejective consonants within disyllabic and trisyllabic roots or stems suggests that these cases conform to a regular pattern within Ch'ol, and more generally, Mayan languages, in which reflexes of *q’ or *k’ are preferred in…
Reconstructing Possession Morphology in Mayan Languages
The Cascajal Block
This paper studies the Cascajal Block, a serpentinite artifact with an Olmec text dating to ca. 1000–900b.c.(Rodríguez Martínez et al. 2006a). It introduces a new line drawing made possible by the detailed documentation carried out by Carrasco and Englehardt, presents a distributional analysis of the inscription in order to assess the sign inventory proposed by Rodríguez Martínez et al. (2006a) and revised by Mora-Marín (2009), and, most signific…
Izapan Writing
This paper reviews the limited evidence for the classification of the script attested at the site of Izapa. Sufficient data for assessing the nature of key formal traits exists, thanks to the more recent documentation of the sculptural corpus (Clark and Moreno 2007). After a review of the archaeological and historical linguistic context, the paper examines the history of research on the classification of the writing systems of Mesoamerica (Justes…
Mayan Literacy Reinvention in Guatemala
This book offers a very timely discussion of the interrelated problems of orality and literacy in the context of language endangerment and revitalization efforts. The author focuses on Guatemala and the renewed interest among speakers of two Mayan communities—Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, and San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá—such as native Mayan intellectuals and women's groups in strengthening their cultural traditions and linguistic practices follow…
El tema de figura en silueta “Charlie Chaplin”
Este artículo provee evidencia para la definición y origen de un tema de figuras de jade que es común en Costa Rica. Consiste de una figura de pie en pose ritual, y se argumenta que su origen se debe a la red de intercambio que conectó a los artesanos de jade de la Costa Rica precolombina y sus contemporáneos en la región maya de Mesoamérica. En la región maya, los arqueólogos les llaman figuras de “Charlie Chaplin” por su característica pose con…
Testing the Proto-Mayan-Mije-Sokean Hypothesis
This paper tests the hypothesis of a common ancestor for the Mayan and Mije-Sokean languages. It applies the Comparative Method to a data set of Proto-Mayan and Proto-Mije-Sokean comparanda compiled following strict criteria for the selection of comparanda, including wide distribution of the forms within each of the language families, semantic isomorphism, and biconsonantal correspondences. Loanwords have been reviewed and compiled, and their sou…
Consonant deletion, obligatory synharmony, typical suffixing
The Pre-Columbian Mayan hieroglyphic script utilized logograms, representing CVC roots or CVCVC stems, and CV syllabograms. Starting with Knorozov’s (1952 etc.) initial breakthroughs in applying a Mayan linguistic model to account for the script’s spelling practices, most scholars have assumed that ‘synharmonic’ spellings of roots or stems, those in which the final consonant is ‘complemented’ by means of a CV syllabogram whose vowel is identical …
A Test and Falsification of the "Classic Ch'olti'an" Hypothesis
This paper constitutes a test of the Classic Ch'olti'an (Pre‐Eastern Ch'olan) hypothesis for the linguistic affiliation of the standard language of Classic Lowland Mayan hieroglyphic texts from ca. a.d. 200–900 proposed by Houston et al. (2000). Newly assessed linguistic evidence suggests that the proposed Eastern Ch'olan innovations supporting the Classic Ch'olti'an hypothesis may in fact be shared retentions from Proto‐Ch'olan‐Tzeltalan and Pro…
Early Olmec Writing
This paper analyzes the reading format and reading order of the recently described Cascajal Block, an artifact with an Olmec-style inscription. The analysis, based not on the iconicity of the signs and their orientation, but solely on the formal and organizational characteristics of the text as a whole, and the patterns of repeated sign sequences, suggests that the text was written from left-to-right, bottom-to-top-if one assumes the orientation …
Full Phonetic Complementation, Semantic Classifiers, and Semantic Determinatives in Ancient Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing
This paper discusses a little understood spelling practice of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, the use of full phonetic complementation of logograms, and some implications derived from this practice, particularly when compared with similar practices in other logosyllabic scripts from around the world (e.g., Egyptian and Luvian), which suggest that such practice existed in association with semantic classifiers. Also, a preliminary distinction between t…
Kaminaljuyu Stela 10
This paper examines various lines of evidence for the classification and linguistic affiliation of writing at Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyu. The linguistic evidence for the ethnic composition of the Maya highlands and Pacific slopes during the Late Preclassic period points to contact among Ch'olan-Tzeltalan, Greater K'iche'an, and other non-Mayan languages, and to a dominant political economic role of Ch'olan-Tzeltalan. The epigraphic evidence supp…
The origin of Mayan syllabograms and orthographic conventions
Preview this article: The origin of Mayan syllabograms and orthographic conventions, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/wll.6.2.04mor-1.gif
Historical Reconstruction of Mayan Applicative and Antidative Constructions
In this paper I examine comparative data on the applicative ‐b’e suffix and its related syntax (including antidative constructions) in Mayan languages in order to contribute to their reconstruction. I present evidence in favor of a Proto‐Mayan reconstruction of an applicative construction that optionally focused instruments, locatives, and addressees, and a Proto‐Central‐Mayan (Eastern and Western Mayan) reconstruction of the ‐b’e suffix. I discu…
A Test and Falsification of the "Classic Ch'olti'an" Hypothesis
This paper constitutes a test of the Classic Ch'olti'an (Pre‐Eastern Ch'olan) hypothesis for the linguistic affiliation of the standard language of Classic Lowland Mayan hieroglyphic texts from ca. a.d. 200–900 proposed by Houston et al. (2000). Newly assessed linguistic evidence suggests that the proposed Eastern Ch'olan innovations supporting the Classic Ch'olti'an hypothesis may in fact be shared retentions from Proto‐Ch'olan‐Tzeltalan and Pro…
Historical Reconstruction of Mayan Applicative and Antidative Constructions
In this paper I examine comparative data on the applicative ‐b’e suffix and its related syntax (including antidative constructions) in Mayan languages in order to contribute to their reconstruction. I present evidence in favor of a Proto‐Mayan reconstruction of an applicative construction that optionally focused instruments, locatives, and addressees, and a Proto‐Central‐Mayan (Eastern and Western Mayan) reconstruction of the ‐b’e suffix. I discu…
Full Phonetic Complementation, Semantic Classifiers, and Semantic Determinatives in Ancient Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing
This paper discusses a little understood spelling practice of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, the use of full phonetic complementation of logograms, and some implications derived from this practice, particularly when compared with similar practices in other logosyllabic scripts from around the world (e.g., Egyptian and Luvian), which suggest that such practice existed in association with semantic classifiers. Also, a preliminary distinction between t…
Kaminaljuyu Stela 10
This paper examines various lines of evidence for the classification and linguistic affiliation of writing at Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyu. The linguistic evidence for the ethnic composition of the Maya highlands and Pacific slopes during the Late Preclassic period points to contact among Ch'olan-Tzeltalan, Greater K'iche'an, and other non-Mayan languages, and to a dominant political economic role of Ch'olan-Tzeltalan. The epigraphic evidence supp…
Izapan Writing
This paper reviews the limited evidence for the classification of the script attested at the site of Izapa. Sufficient data for assessing the nature of key formal traits exists, thanks to the more recent documentation of the sculptural corpus (Clark and Moreno 2007). After a review of the archaeological and historical linguistic context, the paper examines the history of research on the classification of the writing systems of Mesoamerica (Justes…
Testing the Proto-Mayan-Mije-Sokean Hypothesis
This paper tests the hypothesis of a common ancestor for the Mayan and Mije-Sokean languages. It applies the Comparative Method to a data set of Proto-Mayan and Proto-Mije-Sokean comparanda compiled following strict criteria for the selection of comparanda, including wide distribution of the forms within each of the language families, semantic isomorphism, and biconsonantal correspondences. Loanwords have been reviewed and compiled, and their sou…
La Estela 87 de Tak’alik Ab’aj
The discovery of Stela 87 in situ in a secondary context, as a reused element of sacralization in a possibly royal residence from the Early Classic, allows us to locate the time of the original function as a stela in the Late Preclassic. It is in the Late Preclassic that the image and the text with 4 glyphic signs allude to the ruler represented there. It is in the early part of the Late Preclassic that stelae at Tak’alik Ab’aj and other early ci…
Reconstructing Possession Morphology in Mayan Languages
Early Olmec Writing
This paper analyzes the reading format and reading order of the recently described Cascajal Block, an artifact with an Olmec-style inscription. The analysis, based not on the iconicity of the signs and their orientation, but solely on the formal and organizational characteristics of the text as a whole, and the patterns of repeated sign sequences, suggests that the text was written from left-to-right, bottom-to-top-if one assumes the orientation …
Evidence for lexical and phonetic determinatives in Mayan writing
This article utilizes the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2022) to study the spellings of three glyphic values based on T713 (Thompson 1962), namely, the logogram K′AB′ ‘hand, arm’ ( n = 88), the logogram K′AL ‘to close, wrap, adorn’ ( n = 484), and the syllabogram mi ( n = 68), cataloged as MZ1, MR1, and MR2, respectively, by Looper et al. (2022). The main goal is to study the functions of certain graphemes typically placed ato…
The Cascajal Block
This paper studies the Cascajal Block, a serpentinite artifact with an Olmec text dating to ca. 1000–900b.c.(Rodríguez Martínez et al. 2006a). It introduces a new line drawing made possible by the detailed documentation carried out by Carrasco and Englehardt, presents a distributional analysis of the inscription in order to assess the sign inventory proposed by Rodríguez Martínez et al. (2006a) and revised by Mora-Marín (2009), and, most signific…
The origin of Mayan syllabograms and orthographic conventions
Preview this article: The origin of Mayan syllabograms and orthographic conventions, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/wll.6.2.04mor-1.gif
Historical Reconstruction of Mayan Applicative and Antidative Constructions
In this paper I examine comparative data on the applicative ‐b’e suffix and its related syntax (including antidative constructions) in Mayan languages in order to contribute to their reconstruction. I present evidence in favor of a Proto‐Mayan reconstruction of an applicative construction that optionally focused instruments, locatives, and addressees, and a Proto‐Central‐Mayan (Eastern and Western Mayan) reconstruction of the ‐b’e suffix. I discu…
Kaminaljuyu Stela 10
This paper examines various lines of evidence for the classification and linguistic affiliation of writing at Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyu. The linguistic evidence for the ethnic composition of the Maya highlands and Pacific slopes during the Late Preclassic period points to contact among Ch'olan-Tzeltalan, Greater K'iche'an, and other non-Mayan languages, and to a dominant political economic role of Ch'olan-Tzeltalan. The epigraphic evidence supp…
Full Phonetic Complementation, Semantic Classifiers, and Semantic Determinatives in Ancient Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing
This paper discusses a little understood spelling practice of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, the use of full phonetic complementation of logograms, and some implications derived from this practice, particularly when compared with similar practices in other logosyllabic scripts from around the world (e.g., Egyptian and Luvian), which suggest that such practice existed in association with semantic classifiers. Also, a preliminary distinction between t…
A Test and Falsification of the "Classic Ch'olti'an" Hypothesis
This paper constitutes a test of the Classic Ch'olti'an (Pre‐Eastern Ch'olan) hypothesis for the linguistic affiliation of the standard language of Classic Lowland Mayan hieroglyphic texts from ca. a.d. 200–900 proposed by Houston et al. (2000). Newly assessed linguistic evidence suggests that the proposed Eastern Ch'olan innovations supporting the Classic Ch'olti'an hypothesis may in fact be shared retentions from Proto‐Ch'olan‐Tzeltalan and Pro…
Early Olmec Writing
This paper analyzes the reading format and reading order of the recently described Cascajal Block, an artifact with an Olmec-style inscription. The analysis, based not on the iconicity of the signs and their orientation, but solely on the formal and organizational characteristics of the text as a whole, and the patterns of repeated sign sequences, suggests that the text was written from left-to-right, bottom-to-top-if one assumes the orientation …
Consonant deletion, obligatory synharmony, typical suffixing
The Pre-Columbian Mayan hieroglyphic script utilized logograms, representing CVC roots or CVCVC stems, and CV syllabograms. Starting with Knorozov’s (1952 etc.) initial breakthroughs in applying a Mayan linguistic model to account for the script’s spelling practices, most scholars have assumed that ‘synharmonic’ spellings of roots or stems, those in which the final consonant is ‘complemented’ by means of a CV syllabogram whose vowel is identical …
El tema de figura en silueta “Charlie Chaplin”
Este artículo provee evidencia para la definición y origen de un tema de figuras de jade que es común en Costa Rica. Consiste de una figura de pie en pose ritual, y se argumenta que su origen se debe a la red de intercambio que conectó a los artesanos de jade de la Costa Rica precolombina y sus contemporáneos en la región maya de Mesoamérica. En la región maya, los arqueólogos les llaman figuras de “Charlie Chaplin” por su característica pose con…
Testing the Proto-Mayan-Mije-Sokean Hypothesis
This paper tests the hypothesis of a common ancestor for the Mayan and Mije-Sokean languages. It applies the Comparative Method to a data set of Proto-Mayan and Proto-Mije-Sokean comparanda compiled following strict criteria for the selection of comparanda, including wide distribution of the forms within each of the language families, semantic isomorphism, and biconsonantal correspondences. Loanwords have been reviewed and compiled, and their sou…
Izapan Writing
This paper reviews the limited evidence for the classification of the script attested at the site of Izapa. Sufficient data for assessing the nature of key formal traits exists, thanks to the more recent documentation of the sculptural corpus (Clark and Moreno 2007). After a review of the archaeological and historical linguistic context, the paper examines the history of research on the classification of the writing systems of Mesoamerica (Justes…
Mayan Literacy Reinvention in Guatemala
This book offers a very timely discussion of the interrelated problems of orality and literacy in the context of language endangerment and revitalization efforts. The author focuses on Guatemala and the renewed interest among speakers of two Mayan communities—Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, and San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá—such as native Mayan intellectuals and women's groups in strengthening their cultural traditions and linguistic practices follow…
The Cascajal Block
This paper studies the Cascajal Block, a serpentinite artifact with an Olmec text dating to ca. 1000–900b.c.(Rodríguez Martínez et al. 2006a). It introduces a new line drawing made possible by the detailed documentation carried out by Carrasco and Englehardt, presents a distributional analysis of the inscription in order to assess the sign inventory proposed by Rodríguez Martínez et al. (2006a) and revised by Mora-Marín (2009), and, most signific…
The Historical Reconstruction of Greater Tzeltalan (Mayan) Vowel Assimilation and Vowel Raising Patterns
This paper examines the phenomenon of vowel assimilation at a distance in di‐ and trisyllabic roots and stems in the Greater Tzeltalan languages of the Mayan language family. The study focuses on changes undergone in disyllabic and trisyllabic roots and stems, characterized by either anticipatory or perseverative vowel assimilation, and discusses the historical scenarios relevant to their reconstruction to the various relevant stages (Proto‐Great…
The regularizing, analogical effect of metathesis in Modern Ch'ol (Mayan)
This article examines two instances of metathesis that have occurred in Ch'ol (Mayan) since the late 18th century. While at first, they may seem to be cases of irregular, sporadic change, a closer look at constraints involving ejective consonants within disyllabic and trisyllabic roots or stems suggests that these cases conform to a regular pattern within Ch'ol, and more generally, Mayan languages, in which reflexes of *q’ or *k’ are preferred in…
Reconstructing Possession Morphology in Mayan Languages
Evidence, New and Old, Against the Late *k(’) > *ch(’) Areal Shift Hypothesis
La Estela 87 de Tak’alik Ab’aj
The discovery of Stela 87 in situ in a secondary context, as a reused element of sacralization in a possibly royal residence from the Early Classic, allows us to locate the time of the original function as a stela in the Late Preclassic. It is in the Late Preclassic that the image and the text with 4 glyphic signs allude to the ruler represented there. It is in the early part of the Late Preclassic that stelae at Tak’alik Ab’aj and other early ci…
On the systematic nature of writing systems
A reappraisal of the development of the Mayan Syllabary
This paper revisits the problem of the derivation of phonographic signs in Mayan writing (cf. Mora-Marín 2003 ). The primary goal is to evaluate Lacadena’s ( 2010a , 2010b ) proposal that the Mayan syllabary was initially derived through the wholesale adoption of a Mixe-Zoquean-based script. Lacadena argued that Mayan syllabograms based on consonants shared by both Mayan and Mixe-Zoquean generally lack acrophonic explanations, while syllabograms …
The duplication diacritic
This article studies the duplication diacritic of Epigraphic Mayan (ISO 639-3 emy) during the Classic period ( a.d. 200–900). Cataloged as grapheme 22A, it consists of two dots optionally and rarely affixed to another grapheme to command the reader, in the majority of cases, to read a syllabogram twice in sequence. This article reviews prior literature on the diacritic, elaborates a typology of four distinct but ultimately related functions, and …
Evidence for lexical and phonetic determinatives in Mayan writing
This article utilizes the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2022) to study the spellings of three glyphic values based on T713 (Thompson 1962), namely, the logogram K′AB′ ‘hand, arm’ ( n = 88), the logogram K′AL ‘to close, wrap, adorn’ ( n = 484), and the syllabogram mi ( n = 68), cataloged as MZ1, MR1, and MR2, respectively, by Looper et al. (2022). The main goal is to study the functions of certain graphemes typically placed ato…
Lexico-semantic stability in the anatomical domain in the Mayan language family
This paper deals with lexico-semantic stability, specifically in the anatomical domain. The main goal is to develop a method for measuring semantic polysemy and shift, in order to address: (1) the validity of standardized vocabulary lists (e.g., Swadesh 1950 , 1952 , 1955 ; Holman et al. 2008 ; Haspelmath & Tadmor 2009a , 2009b ) for investigating cross-linguistic stability; and (2) the difference between basic and stable vocabulary ( Ratliff 200…
Historical Sociolinguistics of the Classic Maya Lowlands
This paper applies a historical sociolinguistic framework to the study of Epigraphic Mayan (EMY), a logosyllabic writing system (ca. 400 BCE-CE 1700) innovated by speakers of the Ch’olan and Yucatecan (Mayan) languages. The focus is a morphological variable, the Generic Preposition, tä ~ ti. Following background information on Mayan historical linguistics and epigraphy, and a review of prior literature on the Generic Preposition, the paper descri…
A historical sociolinguistic study of two linguistic variables in epigraphic Mayan during the classic period
This paper applies a historical sociolinguistic framework to the study of Epigraphic Mayan (EMY), a logosyllabic writing system (ca. 400 bce–ce 1700) innovated by speakers of the Ch’olan and Yucatecan (Mayan) languages. Two variables are studied: 1) the Common Ch’olan *h, *j > /j/ merger (/j/ = IPA /x/); and 2) Common Ch’olan ʔaj= ∼ ʔa= ‘male/large/active proclitic classifier’. For each variable, a comprehensive dataset was compiled using the May…
Linguistics (18 works) · Philosophy (18 works) · History (13 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies (11 works) · Archaeology (8 works) · History (8 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Artificial Intelligence (6 works)