Mesoamerican languages: Difference between revisions

An important question that remains to be answered is what language or languages were spoken by the people and rulers of the empire of Teotihuacan. During the first part of the Classic period Teotihuacan achieved dominance over central Mexico and far into the Maya area. Possible candidates for the language of Teotihuacan have been Nahuatl, Totonac or Mixe–Zoque. [[Terrence Kaufman]] has argued that Nahuatl is an unlikely candidate because Proto-Nahuan did not enter Mesoamerica until around the time of the fall of Teotihuacan (c. 600 AD), and that Totonac or Mixe–Zoque are likely candidates because many Mesoamerican languages have borrowed from these two languages during the Classic period.<ref name="albany.edu">Kaufman, Terrence, (2001) "Nawa Linguistic Prehistory", paper published at [http://www.albany.edu/anthro/maldp/papers.htm website of the Mesoamerican Language Documentation Project]</ref> Others find Mixe–Zoque an unlikely candidate because no current Mixe–Zoque settlements are found in central Mexico. Around 500–600 CE a new language family entered Mesoamerica when speakers of Proto-[[Nahuatl|Nahuan]], a southern [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan language]], moved south into central Mexico. Their arrival, which coincides with the decline of Teotihuacan and a period of general turmoil and mass migration in Mesoamerica, has led scientists to speculate that they might have been involved somehow in the fall of the Teotihuacan empire.<ref name="albany.edu"/>

 

 

====Postclassic period (1000–1521 CE)====

In the modern period what has affected the indigenous languages most has been the pressure of social marginalization put on the indigenous populations by a growing mestizo class and a growing institutionalization of Hispanic society.<ref>Suárez 1983 pp. 167–68</ref> Indigenous languages have been seen by the governing classes as a hindrance to building homogeneous nation states and as an impediment to social progress. These viewpoints sparked a renewed interest in the hispanization of indigenous communities and while the introduction of compulsory education in Spanish has undoubtedly resulted in a more homogeneous society it has also done much for the decline of indigenous languages throughout the 20th century. In a number of indigenous communities it has become practice to learn Spanish first and the indigenous language second. Parents have refrained from teaching their children their own language in order not to subject them to the social stigma of speaking an Indian language – and youths have learned their languages only when they came of age and started taking part in the adult society.<ref>Waterhouse 1949</ref>

 

 

Despite these official changes, old attitudes persist in many spheres, and indigenous languages are not in any practical sense on a par with Spanish. At present the linguistic situation of Mesoamerican languages is most difficult in the Central American countries like Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua where indigenous languages still do not enjoy the rights or privileges now granted them elsewhere, and are still subject to social stigmatization.

 

[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mesoamerican_languages_geodistribution.png]

==Map of current distribution==

[[File:Mesoamerican languages geodistribution.png|center|thumb|800px|Mesoamerican languages geodistribution]]

{{main|Mesoamerican literature}}

 

 

==Mesoamerican Linguistic Area==

==References==

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* {{cite book |author1=Fernández de Miranda |author2=María Teresa |year=1968 |chapter=Inventory of Classificatory Materials |pages=63–78 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7 |oclc=277126}}

* {{cite journal|last=Kaufman|first=T.|last2=Justeson|first2=J.|year=2009|title=Historical linguistics and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica|journal=Ancient Mesoamerica|volume=20|issue=2|pages=221–31|doi=10.1017/s0956536109990113 }}

* {{cite journal |author=Waterhouse, Viola G. | date=April 1949 |title=Learning a second language first|journal=[[International Journal of American Linguistics]] |volume=15 |issue=2|pages=106–09 |location=Baltimore, MD |publisher=published at Waverly Press by [[Indiana University]] |issn=0020-7071 |oclc=42818215 |doi=10.1086/464029}}

{{refend}}