Battered Spanish, Eloquent Mixe: Form and Function of Mixe Difrasismos

Abstract

One of the marks of a skillful speaker of Totontepecano Mixe is the ability to employ parallel couplets such as tùʔk ʔaaj tùʔk joot 'one mouth, one belly' in a variety of discursive genres, ranging from prayer and political oratory to joking and storytelling. Comparable poetic forms, which Mesoamericanists refer to as difrasismos, are found in indigenous oral traditions across Mexico and Central America. This article examines the formal properties of Totontepecano difrasismos and explores the uses to which Totontepecanos put them, both formal and informal.

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