Recent literature has argued that linguistic form and the sociolinguistic distribution of these forms are mediated by linguistic ideology, and that linguistic change is largely a result of a dynamic interaction between the social use of language and social structures. The research here will enrich this view by systematically considering the sociocultural dimensions of use of interrelated grammatical, lexical and morphological features in K'iche' Maya, through its previously unexamined honorific register phenomena. The social use of language is nowhere more apparent than in honorific registers -- conventionalized cooccurrences of linguistic forms, pronouns, nouns or other linguistic devices which index deference or respect towards the person addressed. Lexical, grammatical and morphological means are used to index respect or deference to referent, addressee or bystander. Several varieties of K'iche' Maya have two full sets of second person pronouns that differ in formality, as well as two prefixes used before proper names of males and females, respectively. In addition, honorification in some dialects of K'iche' appears to involve the voice system in interesting ways. The research seeks to determine how and to what extent a replication at the local level of the sociolinguistic relationship between Mayan and Spanish, by means of gradual, pragmatically-driven replacement, may be occurring. Since Spanish is the national language of Guatemala, and K'iche' speaking communities are now variously bilingual, honorifics are a point of interlingual pragmatic (functional) overlap and serve as an important mediating register for K'iche' - Spanish language change.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
9810060
Program Officer
Catherine N. Ball
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
1998-09-01
Budget End
2000-08-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
$7,842
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Chicago
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60637