Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoameri... more Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoamerica stand out as fertile periods in terms of the generation of new languages: the Terminal Preclassic/early Early Classic Periods, and the Early Postclassic Period. After comparing archaeological evidence with language distributions within the subregions of southern Mesoamerica during the first of these periods, we conclude that the cultural processes during both periods had the same potential for producing rapid rates of linguistic divergences. Just as rapid proliferation of linguistic divisions was symptomatic of the well-known collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization, so it can be taken as a sign of a collapse of Terminal Preclassic civilization. Both collapses were characterized by severe population reductions, site abandonments, an increasing balkanization in material culture, and disruption of interregional communication networks, conditions that were contributory to the kind of l...
International Journal of American Linguistics, 2020
The Ch’orti’ antipassive system is more conservative than that of the other Ch’olan languages, th... more The Ch’orti’ antipassive system is more conservative than that of the other Ch’olan languages, thus challenging the claim of direct Ch’orti’-to-Ch’olti’ descent. Except for the innovative suffix -ma, the suffixes are reflexes of historical Mayan antipassives *-(V)n and *-(V)w. Four antipassive suffixes (-ma, -on, -o, and -yan) are used in Ch’orti’ to form absolutive antipassives without patients, and some of the suffixes are used in related verbal structures, e.g., incorporatives. While the other Ch’olan languages show some evidence of having verbal absolutive antipassives, they have innovated by creating related structures with required embedded nominalized antipassives. The Ch’orti’ system, like other non-Ch’olan Mayan languages, allows embedded nominalized antipassives, but never requires them. Additionally, Ch’orti’ has preserved the final fricative in the nominalized antipassive [-(y)ax] suffix (in contrast to the intransitive suffix [-ah]), while the corresponding Ch’olti’ suffix [-ya] has lost the fricative.
Introduction The Women Alone Maria: Three Soldiers Raped Me...and I Was Eight Months Pregnant Rit... more Introduction The Women Alone Maria: Three Soldiers Raped Me...and I Was Eight Months Pregnant Rita: They Invaded All the Resettlement Groups Carmen: It Is My Turn To Weep Mirabela: We, As Women,...Cannot Remain With Our Arms Crossed Alicia: My Entire Family Fell Apart Ligia: Exile Has Been a Kind of School The Women Together Carmen: This Is the Way We Can Collaborate For Now Rita: I Only Wanted To Cry and Cry Alicia: So We Go On Alone Mirabela: Robin, When Will You Let Me Talk With You Again? Maria: "Lady, I Thought You Were Stupid" Rina: My Husband Abandoned Me...Just When I Needed Him Most Carolina: Feeling Much Stronger Because We Were Together... Ligia: There Are Limits As To What You Can Do Alicia: For the Sake of Our Cause... Epilogue: That Is the Way Life Is Works Cited Index
Dr. Robin Quizar and Dr. Rich Sandoval are both alumni of CU Boulder Linguistics, and they are bo... more Dr. Robin Quizar and Dr. Rich Sandoval are both alumni of CU Boulder Linguistics, and they are both affiliated with Metropolitan State University of Denver, Robin as Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and Rich as Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Together they run a language documentation effort called the Ch’orti’ Project, of which Robin is the director. Robin worked extensively with the Ch’orti’ (Mayan) language and community in Guatemala throughout the 1970s and 80s, helping to produce a number of language reference and revitalization materials. After retiring from MSU Denver, Robin renewed this research, reconnected with the Ch’orti’ community, and founded the Ch’orti’ Project in 2013 as a collaborative effort with MSU Denver’s Ethnography Lab. Rich joined the project in 2017. Given his background in linguistic anthropology, language documentation, and other relevant linguistics subfields, Rich was a good fit to help Robin run the project. The project’s accomplishments over th...
Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoameri... more Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoamerica stand out as fertile periods in terms of the generation of new languages: the Terminal Preclassic/early Early Classic Periods, and the Early Postclassic Period. After comparing archaeological evidence with language distributions within the subregions of southern Mesoamerica during the first of these periods, we conclude that the cultural processes during both periods had the same potential for producing rapid rates of linguistic divergences. Just as rapid proliferation of linguistic divisions was symptomatic of the well-known collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization, so it can be taken as a sign of a collapse of Terminal Preclassic civilization. Both collapses were characterized by severe population reductions, site abandonments, an increasing balkanization in material culture, and disruption of interregional communication networks, conditions that were contributory to the kind of l...
International Journal of American Linguistics, 2020
The Ch’orti’ antipassive system is more conservative than that of the other Ch’olan languages, th... more The Ch’orti’ antipassive system is more conservative than that of the other Ch’olan languages, thus challenging the claim of direct Ch’orti’-to-Ch’olti’ descent. Except for the innovative suffix -ma, the suffixes are reflexes of historical Mayan antipassives *-(V)n and *-(V)w. Four antipassive suffixes (-ma, -on, -o, and -yan) are used in Ch’orti’ to form absolutive antipassives without patients, and some of the suffixes are used in related verbal structures, e.g., incorporatives. While the other Ch’olan languages show some evidence of having verbal absolutive antipassives, they have innovated by creating related structures with required embedded nominalized antipassives. The Ch’orti’ system, like other non-Ch’olan Mayan languages, allows embedded nominalized antipassives, but never requires them. Additionally, Ch’orti’ has preserved the final fricative in the nominalized antipassive [-(y)ax] suffix (in contrast to the intransitive suffix [-ah]), while the corresponding Ch’olti’ suffix [-ya] has lost the fricative.
Introduction The Women Alone Maria: Three Soldiers Raped Me...and I Was Eight Months Pregnant Rit... more Introduction The Women Alone Maria: Three Soldiers Raped Me...and I Was Eight Months Pregnant Rita: They Invaded All the Resettlement Groups Carmen: It Is My Turn To Weep Mirabela: We, As Women,...Cannot Remain With Our Arms Crossed Alicia: My Entire Family Fell Apart Ligia: Exile Has Been a Kind of School The Women Together Carmen: This Is the Way We Can Collaborate For Now Rita: I Only Wanted To Cry and Cry Alicia: So We Go On Alone Mirabela: Robin, When Will You Let Me Talk With You Again? Maria: "Lady, I Thought You Were Stupid" Rina: My Husband Abandoned Me...Just When I Needed Him Most Carolina: Feeling Much Stronger Because We Were Together... Ligia: There Are Limits As To What You Can Do Alicia: For the Sake of Our Cause... Epilogue: That Is the Way Life Is Works Cited Index
Dr. Robin Quizar and Dr. Rich Sandoval are both alumni of CU Boulder Linguistics, and they are bo... more Dr. Robin Quizar and Dr. Rich Sandoval are both alumni of CU Boulder Linguistics, and they are both affiliated with Metropolitan State University of Denver, Robin as Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and Rich as Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Together they run a language documentation effort called the Ch’orti’ Project, of which Robin is the director. Robin worked extensively with the Ch’orti’ (Mayan) language and community in Guatemala throughout the 1970s and 80s, helping to produce a number of language reference and revitalization materials. After retiring from MSU Denver, Robin renewed this research, reconnected with the Ch’orti’ community, and founded the Ch’orti’ Project in 2013 as a collaborative effort with MSU Denver’s Ethnography Lab. Rich joined the project in 2017. Given his background in linguistic anthropology, language documentation, and other relevant linguistics subfields, Rich was a good fit to help Robin run the project. The project’s accomplishments over th...
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