Terrence Kaufman

Archaeological and linguistic correlations in Mayaland and associated areas of Meso‐America

Abstract A sketch of the linguistic, geographic and temporal diversification of the Mayan language‐family is offered, and correlations with archaeological discoveries are suggested in many cases. Linguistic contacts of Mayan with non‐Mayan languages and cultures are discussed, and a number of archaeological‐linguistic correlations are suggested. Reference is made to some common linguistic misconceptions often voiced by Meso‐American archaeologists. Some of the more important claims (oversimplified) made here are that Classic Mayans were Cholans, Olmecs and Izapans were Mixe‐Zoqueans, and that there were no Nahuas in Meso‐America before the fall of Teotihuacan.

A decipherment of epi-olmec hieroglyphic writing.

The decipherment of part of the epi-Olmec script of ancient Mexico, which yields the earliest currently readable texts in Mesoamerica, has been achieved over the last 2 years. This was made possible by the discovery of a stela with a long inscription at La Mojarra, Veracruz, Mexico, in 1986. This decipherment is based on both a reconstruction of the early stages of languages spoken in the region and semantic clues provided by comparison with cultural practices and other script traditions of early southern Mesoamerica. Summarized here is the current state of the phonetic decipherment, the methods used for the decipherment, and results concerning the epi-Olmec language and script. The language identified in the inscriptions is pre—proto-Zoquean, the ancestor of four languages now spoken in the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, and Oaxaca. The decipherment contributes to knowledge of early Mixe-Zoquean language history. The script is more closely related to Mayan hieroglyphic writing than to other early Mesoamerican scripts, and this relation is closer than previously recognized.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORD FOR CACAO IN ANCIENT MESOAMERICA

Abstract The word *kakaw(a) (‘cacao’, Theobroma cacao) was widely diffused among Mesoamerican languages, and from there to much of lower Central America. This study provides evidence establishing beyond reasonable doubt that this word originated in the Mije-Sokean family; that it spread from the Mije-Sokean languages in or around the Olmec heartland into southeastern Mesoamerican languages; that its diffusion into Mayan languages took place between about 200 B.C. and A.D. 400; and that it spread from a Mije-Sokean language in or near the Basin of Mexico into languages in the region. It shows that each of the arguments presented by Dakin and Wichmann (2000) against a Mije-Sokean origin is either unworkable, is based upon false premises, or is not relevant; and that their proposed alternative — that it originated in and spread from Nawa into other Mesoamerican languages — conflicts with the mass of evidence relevant to the issue. This study also discusses the linguistic details of vocabulary for drinks made from cacao; shows that no proposed etymology for the word chocolate is correct, but agrees with Dakin and Wichmann that its proximate source is a Nawa form chikola:tl; and discusses the history of words for Theobroma bicolor (‘Nicaragua chocolate tree; pataxte’) and their use. The linguistic data are pertinent to issues of intergroup interaction in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, but do not shed light on the nature or the cultural context of the diffusion of cacao in Mesoamerica, nor on its uses.

Teco: A New Mayan Language

* I spent the month of December 1967 in Motozintla, a town in SE Chiapas (Mexico) which lies about 10 miles from the Guatemala border. In the summer of 1967 I had done 2 months of field work with speakers of Moch6, the language of Motozintla, which belongs to the Mayan family. The main purpose of my December trip to Motozintla was to establish good English glosses for the more than 5,000 lexical items that I collected with Spanish glosses in the summer of 1967. Another sibly 5,000 people is a Mayan language hitherto unidentified, unreported, and unde-

Areal Linguistics and Middle America

Middle America (also called Mesoamerica, henceforth MA), as a product of the culture area concept, is only one of the approximately 35 areas into which most anthropologists (and others) interested in the concept would divide the pre-Columbian New World. MA is of special interest in that (a) ‘civilization’ — by whatever definition — first appeared in the New World in MA, and (b) in political terms MA is divided between just two2 contemporary nations — Mexico and Guatemala — both of them officiall using Spanish as the national language.

Oto-Mangean Languages

The Oto-Mangean stock is the most diverse genetic grouping of Meso-America, being made up of seven language families plus a branch made up of a single language. This article provides a classification, a sketch of grammatical and phonological traits, a discussion of two language-contact phenomena, and notes on comparative–historical studies, documentation, and viability. Notable phonologically are complex syllable onsets, simple syllable codas, and an average of three level tones. Grammatically noteworthy are VO morpheme order and a low degree of affixation.

Amerindian dictionaries in the seventies

Robert M. Laughlin. The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantan. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Number 19. Washington, D. C: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975. ix + 598 pp. Maps, tables, figures, appendix, and references.

Meso-America as a linguistic area

14.40.