SociolinguisticsStudy of language and societyWay social categories (age, gender, class)
influence speech patternsGendered speech- distinct male and female
speech patternsDialects- regional or sub-cultural variations of
language Controversial- dialect often viewed as “substandard’ form by
dominant group
EthnolinguisticsStudy of relationship between language and
culture “Feedback loop”
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Language reflects what a culture thinks
is most important
Linguistic Relativity- the differences in the language are unique to the language (and come from culture)
Linguistic DeterminismRelated to Linguistic Relativity
So…Language shapes the way we think about things and view the world
BUTsometimes language reflects the cultural reality or the conditions specific to the culture’s environment etc.
In other words: our world shapes our language
More subtle: Thought is shaped by languageWay cultures think of and express past, present
and future (verb tenses)
How people organize space/activities in the physical world
How people comprehend/think of numerical, spatial etc. relationships
Way we learn affects the structure of our brains Brain is very plastic (changeable)
ProxemicsSocial space/personal space
Distance people place themselves in relation to one another
Use of and organization of space
Micro = people in groups Macro=how cities and towns
laid out
Writing SystemsWriting =Systematically organized set of
visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language
*Often coincide w/ early nation-stateDistance info must travel with no changeIndicates new use, importance of recorded info
*For Maya, these were not the factors that led to writing,
-Legitimization of leadership, dynasty-Creation of identity centered on town,
lord-Time/remembrance /deification of
leader
Maya Writing systemLegitimization of leadership, dynasty
Creation of identity centered on the town and the lord
Time/remembrance /deification of leader
Types of writing systemsAlphabetic- Symbols = language sounds
Phonemes- smallest units of sound (i.e. letters , b = \b\)
(Relatively) small number of symbols Ex: Phoenician system upon which modern alphabet is based
Logographic-Symbols = concepts/ideas, or MorphemesMorpheme = the smallest units of language that
carry meaning (in English, the smallest morpheme is “s” for plurals)
Hundreds, if not thousands of symbols Ex : Chinese
Types of writing systemsPictographic: Concepts, ideas and objects
and associated meanings are visually represented
• Logo-phonetic- combines symbols that represent sounds and symbols representing morphemes/concepts
• Sometimes also called “complex”
• Syllabic-Symbols represent entire syllable or ‘chunk’ of sound• Often “extra” symbols representing numbers,
numerical concepts• Japanese Kana
Mayan is“Logo-syllabic”• 550 Logograms
• 150 Syllabograms
• 100 glyphs for place names, names of gods
etc.
• Abt. 300 glyphs used commonly
Mayan writing origin2006-Earliest
Example of Mayan writing :San Bartolo,
Guatemala
2300 years BP
Refers to a “ruler” or “lord”
What this all meansOne of three known
systems to develop independentlySumerian cuneiformChinese
Prob. start as pictographs, then incorporated sound symbols
No single “Mayan” language- many different groups and related languages
What this all meansThe written Mayan
was a prestige form of the language used by elites, priests and high officials.Classic Ch'olti'an,
extinct form of Eastern Ch’olti
Mayan texts are religious/sacredIntertwining of
political organization and religion
Reveals more abt. gender, worldview
Rabbit!
New Understanding
Women had key role in religionMaintaining shrinesRecording events
Images of women weaving = metaphor for role in creating “fabric” of kinshipDepictions of noble
women as weavers
A female scribe presents her work
The Maya Today
We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle or zoos. We are people and we
want to be respected, not to be victims of
intolerance and racism.--Rigoberta Mench'u Tum, winner
of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize.
Mayan People TodayYucatecan Mayan is
the linguistic basis to decipher the writingFrom “Cho’lti” Mayan
spoken in Classic period
Stelae w/ both forms of the language
Many forms of Mayan still spokenreflect history as
confederated city-states
Modern Maya InvolvementMayan people have helped decipher the
glyphsRecognize storiesPointed out “over-translation” of ruler’s
names-like calling Dr. Brian Carroll (my husband)
“Climbing Stag” – (translation of his first and last name in Irish Gaelic)
References to traditions that are still practiced
In Mayan communities, an effort is being made to reclaim the writing system