Propadeuse Linguistics or Propadeuse Archaeology
Description
Yucatec Maya (Mayathan) is one of the languages of the Mayan language family and is spoken on the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico by approximately 800.000 people. Yucatec Maya is a verb-initial language with a structure that is partly ergative (‘split-ergative’). It has an elaborate system of numeral classifiers and distinguishes several types of possession (alienable, inalienable). It has distinctive tone and glottalized consonants.
The present course includes a short introduction to the history of the Mayan language of Yucatán and a detailed overview of the grammar of contemporary Yucatec, including its basic vocabulary. The reading lessons are based on conversations, short stories and tales that were collected in Yucatan during fieldwork.
The following dictionary will be used intensively and prefereably should be bought via bookfinder.com
Literature:
V. Bricker, E. Po’ot Yah and O. Dzul de Po’ot, A dictionary of the Maya Language as spoken in Hocabá, Yucatán (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City 1998)
For additional literature see below.
Course objectives
Objective 1: The student acquires knowledge and insight into the grammar and sound system of Yucatec Maya. He/she is enabled to interpret and translate elementary Yucatec texts with the help of a dictionary.
Objective 2: He/she obtains a basis of knowledge and familiarity with the Yucatec language on which a practical user knowledge can be developed in a fieldwork situation, particularly in a context of anthropological or archaeological field research.
Objective 3: He/she acquires the linguistic basis that is necessary to undertake a study of colonial and pre-colonial Yucatec and its native hieroglyphic writing system.
Objective 4: He/she gains insight into the socioeconomic situation of the present-day Yucatec Maya.
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st at the website of Linguistics
Mode of instruction
Lecture and Seminar ### Course Load
280 hours
Hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 26 hours
Time for studying the compulsory literature, time for completing assignments: 140
time to write a paper (including reading / research): 114
Assessment method
Presence and participation in class: 30%
Weekly assignments and homework: 30%
Final paper: 60%
Blackboard
Yes Blackboard
Reading list
The dictionary will be used intensively and can be bought at bookfinder.com
V. Bricker, E. Po’ot Yah and O. Dzul de Po’ot, A dictionary of the Maya Language as spoken in Hocabá, Yucatán (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City 1998)
W. Hanks, Referential practice: language and lived space among the Maya (University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1990)
A. Re Cruz, The two milpas of Chan Kom: a study of socioeconomic and political transformations in a Maya community (State University of New York Press: Albany, 1996)
Christine A. Kray, The sense of tranquility: bodily practice and ethnic classes in Yucatán (Ethnology 44(4):337-55, 2005)
Registration
Students are requested to register for the course and the examination through uSis