A dictionary of the Maya language : as spoken in Hocabá, Yucatán

Abstract

The Maya language of Yucatan is known as Yucate by linguists, but its speakers refer it as May. Dialiectical differences are minimal across peninsula, and more than 750,000 speakers of Maya can be understood wherever they go. Moreover, it is not only a living language but is of great use epigraphers working on ancient Maya glyphs.This dictionary is culmination of fourteen years labor centering on town and dialect of Hocaba. Whereas other dictionaries of may use Latin paradigms, this is first provide a comprehensive, systematic listing of stems that can be derived from each root and that give Maya its distinctive character. The entries cover full range of Maya speech, from simple expressions and idioms compound stems. Maya sample sentences provide a window into richness of everyday communication, with its mixture of wit, epithets, insults, riddles, aphorisms, and exchanges of information, including a wonderful assortment of metaphorical expressions like peccary s eyelashes for a type of bean, the end of road for marriage, and a verb meaning to draw breath with puckered mouth after eating chili. Among cultural domains encompassed by dictionary are agriculture, architecture, astronomy, culinary practices and recipes, education, folklore, games, humor, medical prescriptions, ritual, toys, and weaving, many of which have roots in Precolumbian past. In addition dictionary entries, this work also contains a short grammar, a botanical index, and bibliography.

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