Macro-Mayan
Encyclopedia
Macro-Mayan is a proposal linking the clearly established Mayan family
with neighboring families that show similarities to Mayan.
The first proposals of this hypothesis were made by Norman McQuown in 1942 who linked Mayan and Mixe–Zoquean. The hypothesis was not elaborated until 1979 when Brown and Witkowski put forth a proposal with 62 cognate sets and supposed sound correspondences between the two families. They also published two articles proposing a "Mesoamerican Phylum" composed of Maco-Mayan and other language families of Mesoamerica
. These proposals was examined closely by Lyle Campbell
and Terrence Kaufman
who rejected the proposal completely because of serious flaws in the methodology that had been applied. They rejected almost all of the 62 cognates. First and foremost they found it important to identify all cases of linguistic diffusion before collecting possible cognates because diffusion has been widespread within the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area
. The exchanges between Brown and Witkowski and Campbell and Kaufman took place in the journal American Anthropologist
between 1978 and 1983.
However Campbell, among the most outspoken "splitters" of modern linguistics, wrote that he believed that Mayan would indeed some day prove to be related to Mixe–Zoquean and Totonacan (Campbell: 1997), but that the studies up to then had done nothing to support such an assumption. (This may have changed for Mixe–Zoquean and Totonacan themselves, with the Totozoque
proposal.) In Campbell's opinion, Huave
is more likely connected to Oto-Manguean
, as suggested by Morris Swadesh
.
Mayan languages
The Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras...
with neighboring families that show similarities to Mayan.
The first proposals of this hypothesis were made by Norman McQuown in 1942 who linked Mayan and Mixe–Zoquean. The hypothesis was not elaborated until 1979 when Brown and Witkowski put forth a proposal with 62 cognate sets and supposed sound correspondences between the two families. They also published two articles proposing a "Mesoamerican Phylum" composed of Maco-Mayan and other language families of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican languages
Mesoamerican languages are the languages indigenous to the Mesoamerican cultural area, which covers southern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The area is characterized by extensive linguistic diversity containing several hundred different languages and...
. These proposals was examined closely by Lyle Campbell
Lyle Campbell
Lyle Richard Campbell is a linguist and leading expert on indigenous American languages—especially those of Mesoamerica—and on historical linguistics in general. He also has expertise in Uralic languages. He is presently Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.-Life and...
and Terrence Kaufman
Terrence Kaufman
Terrence Kaufman is an American linguist specializing in documentation of unwritten languages, Mesoamerican historical linguistics and language contact phenomena. He is currently a professor at the department of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh....
who rejected the proposal completely because of serious flaws in the methodology that had been applied. They rejected almost all of the 62 cognates. First and foremost they found it important to identify all cases of linguistic diffusion before collecting possible cognates because diffusion has been widespread within the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area
Mesoamerican Linguistic Area
The Mesoamerican Linguistic Area is a sprachbund containing many of the languages natively spoken in the cultural area of Mesoamerica. This sprachbund is defined by an array of syntactic, lexical and phonological traits as well as a number of ethnolinguistic traits found in the languages of...
. The exchanges between Brown and Witkowski and Campbell and Kaufman took place in the journal American Anthropologist
American Anthropologist
American Anthropologist is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association . It is known for publishing a wide range of work in anthropology, including articles on cultural, biological and linguistic anthropology and archeology...
between 1978 and 1983.
However Campbell, among the most outspoken "splitters" of modern linguistics, wrote that he believed that Mayan would indeed some day prove to be related to Mixe–Zoquean and Totonacan (Campbell: 1997), but that the studies up to then had done nothing to support such an assumption. (This may have changed for Mixe–Zoquean and Totonacan themselves, with the Totozoque
Totozoque languages
Totozoquean is a proposed language family of Mesoamerica, posited as the ancestor language of two well-established genetic groupings, Totonacan and Mixe–Zoque.-Correspondences:...
proposal.) In Campbell's opinion, Huave
Huave language
Huave is a language isolate spoken by the indigenous Huave people on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is spoken in four villages on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of the state, by around 18,000 people...
is more likely connected to Oto-Manguean
Oto-Manguean languages
Oto-Manguean languages are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of the family, which is now extinct, was spoken as far south as Nicaragua and Costa Rica.The...
, as suggested by Morris Swadesh
Morris Swadesh
Morris Swadesh was an influential and controversial American linguist. In his work, he applied basic concepts in historical linguistics to the Indigenous languages of the Americas...
.