A Test and Falsification of the "Classic Ch'olti'an" Hypothesis

A Study of Three Proto-Ch'olan Markers

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4559366
AutoresDavid Mora-Marín (0000-0001-9945-2389, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, autor correspondente), David Mora‐marín
Ano2009
Volume75
Fascículo2
Páginas115-157
Data de publicação2009-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of American Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0020-7071 • E-ISSN: 1545-7001
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/596592
OpenAlexW2146494584
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas18
Referências citadas11

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 Proto‐Ch'olan. This paper also reviews the proposals for the identification of Eastern Ch'olan and Western Ch'olan vernacular markers at a variety of ancient cities by Justeson and Fox (1989) and Lacadena and Wichmann (2002), among others, and suggests that the late and geographically circumscribed appearance of these traits indicates that Proto‐Ch'olan had not fully diversified—into distinct languages—by the end of the Classic period. It is concluded that it was a form of Pre‐Ch'olan or Proto‐Ch'olan that served as the basis for the standardization of Classic Lowland Mayan writing during the Late Preclassic period, by a.d. 200, and that the diversification of Proto‐Ch'olan was more likely a Postclassic (a.d. 900–1521) phenomenon, one exacerbated by the political and demographic collapse at the end of the Classic period

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