Mayan Linguistics

This is the section II of six volumes each covering the remarkable diversity of Sky Band representations within Mayan art forms. This article offers an advanced  understanding of deity profiles, motif structures, and associated hieroglyphs, particularly within Palenque’s iconographic corpus. Although Sky Bands on ceramics lack direct planetary references comparable to codices, they provide essential data for epigraphic and iconographic study. This report, also presents a selection of Sky Band motifs from ceramic pieces in the Fundación La Ruta Maya collection, underscoring the importance of incorporating Guatemalan materials into broader studies that have traditionally focused on Chiapas and Yucatan.

Abstract: This research focuses on using caves as elements of ritual power in Uaxactun, one of the oldest pre-Columbian Maya cities in the Petén, Guatemala. From a linguistic analysis, the terminology of the meaning of the cave and its symbolic implications to current Mayan languages are explored. These are then applied to urban-power models as the concepts labeled chan chʼeʼn Sky-Cave and kabʼ chʼeʼn Earth-Cave. In this way, the cave-pyramid complex is analyzed as a scenario associated with legitimizing power. Through examples documented in central Mexico and the Maya area, the hypothesis that these places were key to the urban configuration of cities and their periphery has been proved. This model applies to the social groups that inhabited Uaxactun from the Preclassic period to the beginning of the Early Classic period. The caves fulfilled these political and religious functions at different levels. Six caves were investigated in the power centers of Uaxactun and three caves in its periphery were analyzed, finding out their characteristics according to the proposed theoretical concepts. Additionally, the research explored perspectives of anthropogony, eschatology, and cosmology present
in Maya and Mesoamerican myths. According to that, the caves symbolize both the cyclical rebirth linked to the Maize god and a source of sustenance and fertility linked to the Flower Mountain. Finally, the study contributes to understanding a very early political model in Uaxactun and its possible influence on other Maya and Mesoamerican centers.

Resumen: Esta investigación se enfoca al uso de las cuevas como elementos de poder ritual en Uaxactún, una de las ciudades mayas prehispánicas más antiguas del Petén, Guatemala. Desde un análisis lingüístico, se aborda la terminología del significado de cueva y sus implicaciones simbólicas desde el maya clásico hasta los actuales idiomas mayenses, así como los conceptos chan chʼeʼn – cueva celestialy
kab chʼeʼn - cueva terrestre-. De esta manera, se analiza el Complejo Cueva-Pirámide como escenario asociado a la legitimación de poder. A través de ejemplos documentados en México central y área maya,
se refuerza la hipótesis de que estos lugares fueron claves para la configuración de las ciudades y su periferia. Este modelo, es claramente visible para los grupos sociales que habitaron en Uaxactun, que
desde el periodo Preclásico y del inicio del Clásico Temprano, las cuevas cumplieron funciones políticas y religiosas en distintos niveles. Se analizaron 6 cuevas investigadas en los centros de poder de Uaxactun
y 3 cuevas en su periferia, averiguando sus características según los conceptos teóricos propuestos. Adicionalmente, la investigación aborda enfoques desde la antropogonía, escatología y cosmología
presentes en los mitos mayas y mesoamericanos donde las cuevas simbolizan tanto el renacimiento cíclico vinculado al Dios del Maíz como la Montaña florida, un modelo cosmológico de sustento y fertilidad.
Finalmente, el estudio es una aportación para comprender un modelo político muy temprano en Uaxactun y su influencia posible en otros centros mayas y mesoamericanos.

Esta investigación se enfoca al uso de las cuevas como elementos de poder ritual en Uaxactún, una de las ciudades mayas prehispánicas más antiguas del Petén, Guatemala. Desde un análisis lingüístico, se aborda la terminología del significado de cueva y sus implicaciones simbólicas desde el maya clásico hasta los actuales idiomas mayenses, así como los conceptos chan chʼeʼn – cueva celestial- y kab chʼeʼn - cueva terrestre-. De esta manera, se analiza el Complejo Cueva-Pirámide como escenario asociado a la legitimación de poder. A través de ejemplos documentados en México central y área maya, se refuerza la hipótesis de que estos lugares fueron claves para la configuración de las ciudades y su periferia. Este modelo, es claramente visible para los grupos sociales que habitaron en Uaxactun, que desde el periodo Preclásico y del inicio del Clásico Temprano, las cuevas cumplieron funciones políticas y religiosas en distintos niveles. Se analizaron 6 cuevas investigadas en los centros de poder de Uaxactun y 3 cuevas en su periferia, averiguando sus características según los conceptos teóricos propuestos. Adicionalmente, la investigación aborda enfoques desde la antropogonía, escatología y cosmología presentes en los mitos mayas y mesoamericanos donde las cuevas simbolizan tanto el renacimiento cíclico vinculado al Dios del Maíz como la Montaña florida, un modelo cosmológico de sustento y fertilidad. Finalmente, el estudio es una aportación para comprender un modelo político muy temprano en Uaxactun y su influencia posible en otros centros mayas y mesoamericanos.

The reader who is interested in the development of Yucatecan grammar over the last century and the relationship between it and its large neighbor, the Nahuatl language, would benefit by consulting these books. singular plural le peka le pekoba le tzimno le tzimnobo le cħicħe le cħicħobe le bea le beoba le kuo le kuobo le nae le naobe There are other plural markers as well. A common plural marker in the colonial times and still used today is-i. Baax? Baan? (What?) Baax a kati? "What do you want?" Baan ta betah? "What did you do?" Bahux? (How much? (that is, "What is the price?")) Bahux le hanalo? "How much is that food?" Bikix? (When?) Bikix ca ulech? "When did you return?" Bix? (How?) Bixi? "How's that?" Bix a kaba? "How's (what's) your name?" Bucaah? (How much?, How many?, What quantity?) Bucaah a kati? "How much do you want?" Maax? (Who?) Maax cu bin telo? "Who goes there?" Macalmac? (Which?, Which one?) Macalmac a kati? "Which one do you want?" Tuux? (Where?) Tuux ca bin? "Where are you going?" The words baax (what?), maax (who?), and tuux (where?) tend to shift their glottalstopped vowels in standard conversation to regular, elongated, or glided vowels. The words baax (what) and maax (who) are combined with various suffixes to make other interrogative pronouns: With-tial (here meaning "for"): Baaxtial? (Why? For what?) Baaxtial binech Ho? "Why did you go to Mérida?" Baaxtial le hao? "What is the water for?" Maaxtial? (For whom?) Maaxtial le hao? "Who is the water for?" With kin (day): Baaxkin? (When?) Baaxkin ulech? "When did you return?" With-ten (origin not certain): Baaxten? Baanten? (Why?, For what reason?) Baaxten talech holace? "Why did you come yesterday?" Baanten ta betic beyo? "Why are you doing it like that?" Notice that in some of the examples given in the interrogative sentences above that sometimes the sentence ends with the suffix-i or more rarely with-e. These suffixes seem to serve the purpose of marking the sentence as an interrogative sentence. However they are used only with certain verbs and not with others and we can not discern any rule which would help the reader in making a decision about when to use them. Baaxtial binech? "Why did you go?" Baaxtial binechi? "Why did you go?" The suffix-i is optional. Baaxtial binech Ho? "Why did you go to Mérida?" The suffix-i can not be used. Only with the verb kat (want, desire), as long as the verb is the last word in the sentence, does the suffix-i seem to be obligatory. Baax a kati? "What do you want?" Baax a kat a hante? "What do you want to eat?" Many of the interrogative words, when the suffix-i is affixed to them, can stand by themselves:

Campbell zur Achígruppe. Im Zusammenhang mit der unterschiedlichen Zuordnung von Dialekten sei noch auf die Arbeit von Richards (1985) hingewiesen, nach der die Region um den Atitlánsee eine "linguistic transition zone" zwischen verschiedenen Dialekten des Quiché, Cakchiquel und Tzutujil darstellt. 1 In diesem Zusammenhang geht Ximénez (1929: 65-67) auch auf den "überflüssigen" Charakter der Kopula "sein" ein und auf den "unnötigen" Luxus von Zeiten wie dem Plusquamperfekt. Sein Grammatikkonzept ist also-zumindest im Vergleich zu anderen Autoren der Zeit-einer der seltenen Fälle, in denen vor der Entstehung der modernen Linguistik nicht die Elle der lateinischen Grammatik das alleinige Maß war. 2 Hiervon zeugt sein anderes großes Werk, die "Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala" (Ximénez 1929), das auch eine freiere Übersetzung des Popol Vuh enthält. Kategorie A Kategorie B Z.B. wird man eine Person, die über einen Meter neunzig groß ist, ohne Zögern in die Kategorie "groß" einordnen, eine Person, die einen Meter sechzig groß ist in die Kategorie "klein". Ab einer Größe von etwa einem Meter achtzig wird die Einordnung in die Kategorie "groß" sich häufen, bei unter einem Meter siebzig die in "klein".

Another avenue of interpretation, first developed by MacLeod (n.d. and at the Texas Maya Meetings workshops 2000-2004 and in 2003 correspondence with Simon Martin), and supported by Terrence Kaufman (personal communication 2003) connects T78:514 and its derivations to the proto-Mayan transitive root *'ab 'send on an errand,' its proto-Western Mayan reflex *'abt-ej 'trabajar' (g.v.), its Greater Tzeltalan reflexes 'abtej 'trabajar' (i.v.) and 'abt-el 'trabajo,' 'cargo religioso' (t.v. > n.) noted in Tzotzil (Laughlin 1975:2; Laughlin and Haviland 1988:126), an inferred transitive stem *'ab.t-'serve (someone/-thing),' and 'e'tel 'autoridades' in Ch'ol (Kaufman and Justeson 2003:58). 8 These 'work' terms in Tzotzil have a range of meanings from the caretaking obligations of religious cargo-holders in the cofradías to the daily work in the milpa. In addition to Ch'ol 'e'tel (also a general term for 'trabajo/work'), that language has instrumental derivations 'e'tejibäl/'e'tijibäl 'equipment for work' (

In New Guinea, and more generally in Melanesia, there are known cases of traditional use of psychoactive (or supposedly so) mushrooms, which have remained enigmatic, or unknown to most scholars, or little studied. As will be seen from the data set presented below, Melanesia promises to be an area of high ethnomycological interest with regard to psychoactive mushrooms. The best known-and at the same time the most misunderstood-case is that of the "mushroom madness" of the Kuma people and the neighbouring populations living along the Wahgi Valley in the eastern part of New Guinea. To what extent the nature of this phenomenon, now vanished, was to be ascribed to the intake of incontestably psychoactive mushrooms, or to what extent it was of a purely psychological, sociological or psychiatric nature, is a problem that has remained unsolved. Although the second hypothesis is that most accredited by scholars, new mycological, ethnomycological and epidemiological data, and ethnographic data from the 1980s (which has been surprisingly ignored), lead to a re-evaluation of the role of actual hallucinogenic mushrooms in the "mushroom madness".

At the 2004 Palenque Round Table, Erik Velásquez proposed that Maya rulers bearing the Kaanuˀl emblem glyph may have resided in Dzibanche during the Early Classic, as there are no references linking them to Calakmul before A.D. 631. Here we review data on their presence at Dzibanche and other settlements in the region. Arguments of a different nature supporting this scenario were published from 2005 to 2016, including the Xunantunich findings (Helmke and Awe 2016a, 2016b), which allow us to conjecture that a dissident faction of the dynasty separated from Dzibanche and founded an alternative seat in Calakmul in A.D. 635. This produced the scenario that we propose, where, in the Late Classic, there were simultaneous rulers of the Kaanuˀl dynasty in southern Campeche and southern Quintana Roo, since Kaanuˀl rulers continued to reside in Dzibanche at least until the seventh century.

En la Mesa Redonda de Palenque de 2004 Erik Velásquez propuso que los gobernantes mayas que portaban el glifo emblema de Kaanuˀl pudieron haber residido durante el Clásico Temprano en Dzibanché, pues no existen referencias que los vinculen con Calakmul antes de 631 d.C. Aquí revisamos los datos sobre su presencia en Dzibanché y otros asentamientos de la región. Argumentos de distinta naturaleza que apoyan este escenario se publicaron desde 2005 hasta 2016, incluyendo los hallazgos de Xunantunich (Helmke y Awe 2016a, 2016b), que permiten conjeturar que una facción disidente de la dinastía se separó de Dzibanché y fundó en 635 d.C. una sede alternativa en Calakmul. Ello produjo el panorama que proponemos en el Clásico Tardío, donde había mandatarios simultáneos de la dinastía Kaanuˀl en el sur de Campeche y en el sur de Quintana Roo, toda vez que en Dzibanché seguían residiendo gobernantes Kaanuˀl al menos hasta el siglo VII.

In the literature, it is often assumed that ergative constructions originate in passive constructions. The present contribution explores the likelihood of such a passive-toergative analysis for one language (Tima, Niger-Congo, Sudan), showing that this analysis cannot be substantiated and suggesting an origin in active constructions instead. This study is situated in its areal context (outlining similarities to split case marking systems across the region, especially in the Southern branch of Eastern Sudanic) and against the background of discussions in the Indo-Iranian family (from where the passive-to-ergative hypothesis presumably spread).

The Classic Maya (250–900 CE) lowlands in southern Mexico, Guatemala,
Belize, and western Honduras and El Salvador were dotted with
dozens of independent but interconnected polities, each ruled by a divine
king (Figure 4.1). The king was identified with a so-called emblem glyph,
a privileged rank that was reserved for the dynastic ruler (Berlin 1958;
Marcus 1976; Mathews 1991; Tokovinine 2011). Literally translating to
‘holy lord of [polity]’, the title usually consists of the prefix k’uhul (‘holy,
divine’), the core term ajaw (‘lord’), and a polity-specific name or ‘emblem’
(Figure 4.2). In some cases, however, the k’uhul prefix was omitted as a
sign that the ajaw in question – and, by extension, the dynasty that he
represented – was not powerful or influential enough to merit the ‘holy’
modifier. Although most emblem glyph-bearers were men, the k’uhul ajaw
title was occasionally modified with the female prefix ix- to denote a ruling
lady.
Emblem glyphs are important indices of Classic Maya political hierarchies,
allowing epigraphers to tracing dynastic lineages and inter-polity
relations. In contrast to a dynastic king identified by an emblem glyph,
rulers of subordinate centers generally bore lesser rankings such as aj-chak wayib/wayab (‘he of red dreaming place; red/great dreamer’), or the undeciphered title sajal (Beliaev 2004; Parmington 2003; Schele and Freidel 1990, 252–302; Stuart 1985, 2013). Possessed titles like y-ajaw (‘his/her lord’) or u-sajal (‘his/her sajal’) made some local nobles’ vassal status even more explicit in relation to their dynastic overlords (Houston, cited in Grube and Martin 1998,113; Lacadena García-Gallo and Ciudad Ruiz, 1998, 42–45; Mathews and Justeson 1984, 229). Only the kaloomte’ title, whose semantic interpretation remains debated, was more prestigious than k’uhul ajaw and thus applied to only a minority of kings entitled to an emblem glyph (Martin 2020, 77–83; Stuart, Grube, and Schele 1989).

Cette journée, qui s'est tenue en ligne, s'est proposé de réunir des linguistes de diverses spécialités autour des questions suivantes : en quoi les études des langues régionales évoluent-elles ? quels sont les progrès en termes de données ? en quoi les nouvelles technologies (bases de données, fouille de données, intelligence artificielle) font elles avancer l'étude des langues régionales que ce soit du point de vue synchronique ou diachronique ? quelles sont les nouvelles approches théoriques ? comment se dessine l'avenir de ces langues ? Programme 9h-9h10

I cannot forget the day a stumbled upon the verb doubling data in Meiteilon during the first day of my LISSIM classes. That day, till very late at night, the way David Adger and Sjef Barbiers chatted with such fervor over the data, I was very much infected by their passion and also intrigued at the same time. So, from that day onwards, not just the what but also the why and how questions became very important. Sjef, in fact, gave me a lot of valuable inputs during the initial years of my PhD which have been cut into between by a full time job in v Manipur University (MU). Another important help that I got from another LISSIM (again) was from Hedde Zeijlstra when he suggested me to have a look at Tue Trinh"s MIT dissertation after I discussed my work with him. LISSIMs have really helped me in my initial and medial stages of my PhD even though I could not attend the last few ones on account of my teaching responsibilities at MU. Here, in JNU, I have not had much opportunity to interact with many of the faculty members because of my short stay in the campus but, I have had worthwhile suggestions from Pramod Kumar Pandey. However, the various interactions with our department colleagues and friends have been very helpful in all aspects not just limited to linguistics. Dhirendra, Somnath, Karthick, Nganthoibi, Meiraba, Mayank, Hima, Rajamathangi, Janani, Sujoy, and many others have been there for me one time or the other. Outside the department there are friends especially fellow Meiteilon speakers who have been really patient while dealing with me in my ventures for doubling data such as Rojio, Somorjit, Robin N, Jonsan, Priyojitjust to name a few. There are also friends in Delhi, Manipur, MU departmental colleagues, and wherever who are all weather friends for me, to whom I can go to anytime, and who have push me in the right direction for the submission namely Reena,

Language names not in parentheses are the preferred current usage (Aissen et al. :-), names in parentheses are traditional and alternative names. Many more variants exist, and preferences are in constant ux. Family subdivision names are those established in modern literature; all but Huastecan constitute Southern Mayan. Western and Eastern Mayan together constitute Central Mayan (Kaufman :-).

Language often plays an indispensable role in ritual healing practices, where it is characterized by distinctive prosodic, grammatical and discursive resources. Questions of how language marks and contributes to the therapeutic efficacy of ritual healing practices have invited numerous claims over the decades, from symbolist, semiotic, performative and phenomenological perspectives. This chapter explores those features of ritual language that are commonly employed in ritual healing, with special attention to the relative importance of semantic content or structural form as they relate to these claims concerning therapeutic efficacy. Case studies from around the world are examined, with special emphasis on those from the indigenous Americas.

Welcome to the "32-year book" of The Codex. lajcha' k'atun jun tun hun Now in its 32 nd year, The Codex continues to publish materials of substance in the world of Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican studies. We continue that tradition in this issue. We apologize for the later than usual appearance of this issue of The Codex. Although the Covid pandemic has eased, the disease is still with us, and both the editor and one of the authors were struck with stubborn cases of it resulting in an unavoidable delay. However, we persevered, and have produced an issue that is up to our usual standards. Olga Stavrakis and Cedric Puleston share more pages from Dennis Puleston's journal of his summer at Tikal in 1963, once again showing behind the scenes details of life at a pioneering archaeological project. William Haviland brings us up-to-date on some particulars in part 2 of Dennis Puleston's Summer 1963 journal. David Mora-Marín's bout of Covid prevented him from working on the 3 nd part of his discussion and analysis of the Initial Sign Collocation (ISC). However, he had another paper in process on CVC phonograms in the Maya script, and we are very grateful that he offered to submit it for this issue. And, Lady Sharp Tongue reports on a royal mystery at Piedras Negras. Although The Codex has become a publication of substance in the world of Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican studies, we do not plan to rest on our laurels. We welcome suggestions for new features and ideas for future issues that will build on our success.

The study of the so-called Primary Standard Sequence (PSS), as defined by Michael Coe (1973, 1978), has led to a more complete understanding of Mayan writing, including numerous decipherments of signs and expressions by many scholars since the 1980s. One of these scholars, Barbara MacLeod (1990), wrote a dissertation on the subject that remains the single most comprehensive and detailed analysis of the structure and nature of this genre to date. In that work, MacLeod (1990) addressed the case of the Initial Sign Collocation (ISC) (Figure 1A), designated that way by Coe (1978) because of its typical occurrence at the beginning of the PSS on portable texts. The collocation typically consists of a likely logographic "main sign," T617/1M3 (Figure 1B), and up to three syllabograms (ʔa, ya, la) (Figure 1C). The main sign may also be replaced by a variety of presumed allograms (i.e. distinct graphemes with the same value), which are not studied here. 1 Although the ISC's status as "Initial" may be questioned due to its typically non-text-initial occurrence on monumental texts (e.g. Schele 1982:317-320, Chart 130), the fact is that it is most frequently clause-initial and pre-verbal in position, following only fronted temporal phrases (distance numbers, calendar rounds) on a few stone monuments and even fewer portable texts, and thus its label remains largely well-earned. 2

Welcome to the "32-year book" of The Codex. lajcha' k'atun jun tun hun Now in its 32 nd year, The Codex continues to publish materials of substance in the world of Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican studies. We continue that tradition in this issue.

En este trabajo se evalúa la evidencia pertinente al desarrollo de la escritura mesoamericana temprana. Los objetivos principales son: 1) ofrecer una breve reseña de la historia de la investigación de la escritura olmeca; 2) repasar los modelos para la filiación lingüística de los olmecas; 3) discutir los modelos para el origen de los tres sistemas de escritura mejor estudiados del período Formativo (zapoteca, epi-olmeca, maya); 4) poner a prueba estos modelos mediante encuestas a la evidencia de las inscripciones más antiguas de Mesoamérica; y 5) evaluar las implicaciones de los resultados para el desarrollo de la escritura mesoamericana y las posibles filiaciones lingüísticas que se deben retener para futuros trabajos de desciframiento. Primeramente, proporciono una visión general de la clasificación de los sistemas de escritura mesoamericanos.

This paper examines the evidence for the development of early Mesoamerican writing. The primary goals are: 1) to review the history of research on the nature of Olmec writing; 2) to comment on linguistic models for the affiliation of the Olmecs; 3) to discuss models for the origin of the three well-understood scripts from the Formative period (Zapotec, Epi-Olmec, Mayan); 4) to test such models by surveying the evidence from the earliest inscriptions from Mesoamerica; and 5) to consider the significance of the results for the development of Mesoamerican writing and the possible linguistic affiliations that should be entertained for future decipherment work. First, I provide an overview of the classification of Mesoamerican scripts.

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 2006; Matisoff 2009), and its implications for studying remote relationships between language families, on the one hand, and subgroup differentiation within language families, on the other. To study these problems, a total of 50 etyma from the anatomical domain were selected from the Preliminary Etymological Mayan Database (Kaufman with Justeson 2003), and these were then classified employing the novel metric, and further analyzed by means of statistical methods. The results point to: (1) no specific correlation with the stability rankings of the Swad...

This paper studies the morphology of attributive possession in the Mayan language family. First, a typology of ten attributive possession constructions for synchronic description and diachronic analysis is designed, combining traits from a variety of noun classifications based on possession strategies, most of which emerged out of the work of the Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín, such as Nora England’s (1988, 1992). I adapt this typology to facilitate typological comparisons on the basis of Johanna Nichols and Balthasar Bickel’s (2013) “possession classification” concept. Second, a comparison of possessive morphology (including abstractivizing suffixes) from across all six major Mayan subgroups is carried out, and reconstructions for earlier stages are proposed, supporting and in some cases revising previous proposals by other scholars. In the process, several examples of diffusion between language subgroups and individual languages are identified. Last, several issues of historical and typological interest are discussed, and future areas of research are suggested.

Los mayas convivieron con varias especies de serpientes venenosas, destacándose especialmente la b'aakneh («cola de hueso») o nauyaca («cuatro narices»), que puede alcanzar hasta dos metros de longitud y cuya letal ponzoña causa necrosis o muerte de los tejidos afectados. Le sigue de cerca la víbora de cascabel tropical, que frecuenta las selvas y sabanas de Centro y Sudamérica, y agita sus crótalos como advertencia, ya que su veneno puede provocar parálisis progresiva, ceguera y sordera. Los mayas la llamaron tzahb'kaan y la asociaron con la constelación de las Pléyades.

El presente artículo busca sintetizar uno de los resultados de varias estadías de campo con fines etnológicos emprendidas entre 2003-2005 en la región de los chuj, dentro del taller "Espacio de los muertos", que formó parte del programa de investigación "Geografía de lo sagrado: dinámicas de los espacios y las identidades mayas".1 Con anterioridad la autora de estas líneas había realizado un estudio sobre este grupo étnico.2 Con esta exposición se busca dilucidar el papel de uno de los especialistas religiosos del grupo maya chuj, quien tuvo un desempeño particular en los ritos ligados a la muerte y logró constituir un poder religioso-sincrético considerable durante siglos: se trata de los maxtoles o maestros de coro. Para ello en las próximas líneas vamos a abordar algunas de las concepciones relativas a la muerte y las consideraciones que a los chuj les merecen los difuntos, a través de un acercamiento etnológico efectuado en dos municipios del departamento guatemalteco de Huehuetenango, tratando de centrarnos en el desempeño de estas autoridades religiosas e intentando apoyarnos en los escasos datos históricos disponibles para esta región maya. Cabe aclarar que los chuj se encuentran ubicados al noroeste de la sierra de los Cuchumatanes, comprendiendo tres municipios en Guatemala: San Mateo Ixtatán, San Sebastián Coatán y Nentón, y una parte del municipio de Trinitaria en Chiapas, México. Esta es una región de transición geográfica y aunque no se cuenta con suficientes datos arqueológicos para precisar con detalle las fechas, se sabe que en la misma existen asentamientos desde el periodo preclásico. Puede decirse [67]

Este es un diccionario dedicado a la compilación del léxico tseltal de Villa Las Rosas, una variante sureña en estado de obsolescencia. Incluye un prólogo (que corre a cargo de John B. Haviland), una introducción (en la que se tratan la situación actual de la lengua en cuestión, ciertas reflexiones metodológicas, así como la estructura general de la obra) y el diccionario como tal. Así pues, esa obra registra las palabras de esta variante del tseltal, acompañadas de una descripción pormenorizada del significado de los vocablos y de ejemplos de uso (con sus respectivas traducciones al español), e información adicional sobre morfología asociada, a fin de contribuir a la documentación de la lengua tseltal, entendida como la suma de todas sus variantes. Está dirigida principalmente a los propios usuarios de la lengua, si bien puede resultar igualmente útil para quienes desean analizarla o aprenderla.

DOI: https://www.cimsur.unam.mx/index.php/inicio

The Dresden Codex (Codex Dresdensis) is, along with the Paris Codex (Codex Pérez), Madrid Codex (Codex Tro-Cortesiano) and Maya Codex of Mexico (Codex Grolier), one of four Mayan hieroglyphic manuscripts that have survived to the present day. Mayan hieroglyphic manuscripts, despite the brevity and monotony of their presentation, provide rich material for studying the culture of the pre-Columbian Maya. Some sections of the manuscripts date back to very early times and reflect traditions that had already disappeared among the Classic Maya. In general, the manuscripts are a kind of encyclopedia, covering all aspects of life in ancient Indian villages. An attempt to fully translate the text of the Dresden Codex was undertaken in 1975 by Y. V. Knorozov, however, it should be considered outdated. In 1996, Edwin Barnhard offered an analysis of the contents of the first 23 pages of the Сodex, but he does not provide a translation of the text in the proper sense of the term. A partial translation of the manuscript was proposed in 1997 by L. Schele and N. Grube, but it also requires significant improvements. Given the current state of research into Mayan hieroglyphic writing and the language of hieroglyphic texts, a complete translation of all sections of the Dresden Manuscript is not possible. In this regard, a translation of selected sections is offered to the reader.

This study sociophonetically analyzes the assibilated /r/ in Guatemalan Spanish among bilinguals of Spanish and K’iche’, which also has a voiceless assibilated /r/ in word-final position. Results reveal that their Spanish assibilated /r/ is always voiceless, is limited to word-final position, primarily occurs before a pause, and is more prevalent among speakers that are more K’iche’-dominant. As the assibilated /r/ is a common rhotic variant across different varieties of Spanish, it cannot be claimed that it comes from K’iche’ in Guatemala. However, it is proposed that K’iche’ has influenced the realization of this rhotic variant in the Spanish of these bilinguals, as it is phonetically the same and is limited to the same phonological contexts as the K’iche’ assibilated /r/.

The PARI Journal 16(2):1-30 © 2015 Ancient Cultures Institute ballplayers are found preferentially at sites that show some kind of interconnection and a greater degree of affinity to the kings of the Snake-head dynasty that had its seat at Calakmul in the Late Classic (see Martin 2005). This then is the idea that is proposed in this paper, and by reviewing some salient examples from a selection of sites in the Maya lowlands, we hope to make it clear that the commemoration of ballgame engagements wherein local rulers confront their overlord are characteristic of the political rhetoric that was fostered by the vassals of the Snake-head kings. The basis of such rhetoric stems from what we might call the “athletic hegemonism” of the Snake-head kings, much akin to the performance of hegemons in the Olympic games of ancient Greece or the more eccentric and hubristic Roman emperors who performed as gladiators (e.g., Scarre 1995; Golden 1998; Kyle 2007). The predilection of these monuments ...

During the investigation for the Maya Image Archive of the "Text Database and Dictionary of Classic Maya" project the authors identified an unknown und previously unpublished drawing by Teobert Maler. This artwork, dated around 1900, was recently published within Maler's digital repository at the Ibero-American Institute in Berlin. The rendering illustrates the inscription on Lintel 34 from the archaeological site of Yaxchilan. This inscription originally comprised 32 hieroglyphic blocks, most of which have been physically lost since the monument's discovery. The newly identified drawing reveals the lintel in a surprisingly intact condition upon its discovery between 1897 and 1900. It introduces previously unknown portions of text to the six existing and published fragments of Lintel 34. This new finding is a breakthrough and facilitates a fresh epigraphic analysis and fosters a renewed discussion of the monument's revealed narrative.