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Evidence for lexical and phonetic determinatives in Mayan writing: The case of T713

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2023

David F. Mora-Marín Open the ORCID record for David F. Mora-Marín [Opens in a new window]
David F. Mora-Marín*
Affiliation:
Linguistics Department, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
*
Corresponding author: David F. Mora-Marín, davidmm@unc.edu
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Abstract

This article utilizes the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2022) to study the spellings of three glyphic values based on T713 (Thompson 1962), namely, the logogram K′AB′ ‘hand, arm’ (n = 88), the logogram K′AL ‘to close, wrap, adorn’ (n = 484), and the syllabogram mi (n = 68), cataloged as MZ1, MR1, and MR2, respectively, by Looper et al. (2022). The main goal is to study the functions of certain graphemes typically placed atop T713 (T713's “holding site”) when it has the value K′AL, and to determine to what extent such signs can be described as lexical determinatives. The article concludes that MZ1 K′AB′ constitutes the unmarked value of T713, while MZ1 K′AL requires contextual or graphemic disambiguation, the latter facilitated by means of phonetic complements (e.g., k′a or la) or lexical determinatives (e.g., T617/1M3). Syntagmatic contextual associations resulting from frequent proximity to other signs was a common factor in the establishment of certain signs as lexical determinatives. The question of MR2 mi, which can be analyzed as either a digraph or a case of a “phonetic determinative” (distinct from “phonetic complement”) in the holding site of T713, is left open to future research.

Resumen

Resumen

Este artículo utiliza la Base de Datos Jeroglífica Maya (Maya Hieroglyphic Database) (Looper y Macri 1991–2022) para estudiar las grafías de tres valores glíficos basados en T713 (Thompson 1962), a saber, el logograma K′AB′ ‘mano, brazo’, el logograma K′AL ‘cerrar, envolver, adornar’, y el silabograma mi, catalogados como MZ1, MR1 y MR2, respectivamente, por Looper et al. (2022). El objetivo principal es estudiar las funciones de ciertos grafemas típicamente ubicados encima de T713 cuando éste tenía el valor K′AL, en lo que el documento se refiere como el “sitio de retención” de T713, y determinar en qué medida tales signos pueden describirse como determinativos léxicos, anteriormente denominados determinativos semánticos. El artículo concluye que MZ1 K′AB′ constituye el valor no marcado de T713, mientras que MZ1 K′AL requiere desambiguación contextual o grafémica, esta última facilitada mediante complementos fonéticos (e.g., k′a or la) o determinativos lexicales (e.g., T617/1M3). Existe evidencia de que las asociaciones contextuales de tipo sintagmático, resultantes de la proximidad frecuente a otros signos, ya fueran logogramas adyacentes que representan predicados (e.g., 1M3 como el signo principal del Signo Inicial de la Secuencia Estándar Primaria) o argumentos sintácticos del verbo k′al (e.g., 1B5a/ SM1 HUN para ‘papel, diadema’, T528/ZC1a TUN para ‘piedra’, SC1a/PL1/ST6a para el sujeto del Glifo C), fueron un factor común en el establecimiento de ciertos signos como determinativos lexicales. Dichos usos deben ser problematizados cada vez que los epigrafistas discuten la cuestión de la polivalencia: no sólo se puede definir T713 como polivalente (e.g., K′AB′ o K′AL o mi), sino que los determinativos lexicales en sí mismos se pueden describir como polivalentes, como en el caso de 1M3 (Signo Inicial de la Secuencia Estándar Primaria, en cual exhibe una función logográfica versus la función como determinativo léxico para el valor K′AL de T713). La cuestión de MR2 mi, que puede analizarse como un dígrafo o como un caso de “determinante fonético” (que no es lo mismo que un “complemento fonético”) en el sitio de retención de T713, queda abierta para investigaciones futuras.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , Spring 2024 , pp. 149 - 170
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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