Nicknames and Social Structure in Zinacantan1

Abstract

In this paper we attempt to coordinate a variety of analytic tools in the study of Zina‐canteco naming practices, especially that of nicknaming. We suggest that nicknames, whose initial use is informal, are extended to members of distinct local descent groups and are gradually incorporated into the system of formal names by replacing Indian surnames. Viewing local descent groups as the principal point of articulation between the naming system and lineage structure, we show how changes in the latter are accompanied by changes in the former, and we outline the economic and political factors that seem to be behind the tendencies toward segmentation within the lineage. We conceive of naming as a system of communicative codes and measure the communicative efficiency of naming components. This enables us to compare eighteenth‐century Zinacanteco surname groups with modern nickname groups and enhances our argument that they are parallel in structure, in statistical distribution over population, and in the meaning content of particular names. We present evidence suggesting that our model relating formal and informal naming practices to modern Zinacanteco social structure appears to have historical validity as well. [names, Zinacantan, Tzotzil, lineage, humor]

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