The globalization of a ceremonial tree: The case of cacao (Theobroma cacao) among the Mopan Maya

The uses, perceptions, and economic significance of cacao have radically changed in the past 25 years among the Mopan Maya in southern Belize. Cacao was once perceived as a ceremonial crop with little cash value. Over the past 25 years though, cacao has become the most important cash crop grown by the Mopan Maya. The Mopan Maya grow organic cacao that has allowed them to tap into a specialized, high-end chocolate market. However, the emergence of cacao as an important cash crop has altered traditional uses and created conflicts in villages where increasing acreage of reservation lands are planted with cacao, thereby assigning a commercial value to previously communal lands.     

Mayan Language Revival and Revitalization Politics: Linguists and Linguistic Ideologies

Although spoken by a relatively large population, Mayan languages show signs of language shift and loss because the children in some of the speech communities are no longer learning the language. At the same time, Mayas are participating in a movement of cultural reaffirmation, a principle focus of which is language. Maya linguists are central in formulating and reshaping language ideologies to further the goals of revitalization, and they play a significant role in cultural/linguistic activism. This article shows the extent of the contribution of linguistics to Mayan language vitality through an analysis of language ideologies and how they have been reformulated by Maya linguists, and by a review of an apparently successful attempt at reversing language loss that has arisen through an integrated community-based program of cultural revitalization that centers, to a large extent, on language and makes specific use of linguistics. [Keywords: language shift, language ideologies, language revitalization, Mayan languages, Maya movement]     

Old Jokes and New Multiculturalisms: Continuity and Change in Vernacular Discourse on the Yucatec Maya Language

ABSTRACT  Much recent literature on indigenous identity politics in Latin America has emphasized the emergence of new discourses on ethnic citizenship. However, the ways in which state-sponsored efforts to validate and revitalize the Yucatec Maya language become relevant to rural Yucatecans reflect far more continuity with older local narratives about the relationship between language use and modernity. Situating contemporary engagements with multicultural language policies within a broader history of locally meaningful language practices complicates the general model of indigenous language communities that has informed many recent studies of Latin American identity politics and reframes scholarly debates that have emphasized contrasts between emergent forms of essentialism or purism and more-traditional means of identity formation. This, in turn, suggests new routes through which multicultural and multilingual policies can be conceptualized for heterogeneous communities of indigenous language speakers.     

Growth status of school-age Mayan children in Belize,Central America

This paper reports the growth status of a sample of Mopan Maya school children living in a rural village in Belize. These children exhibit a growth pattern typical of chronic undernutrition, in that a high percentage are stunted (66%), but virtually none are wasted by WHO criteria. The Belize Maya children are compared to four other Amerindian groups and found to be shorter and lighter than a semi-urban group from Guatemala, but taller and heavier than three rural groups from Guatemala and Mexico. The Belize children exhibit the largest arm circumferences among all five groups. This pattern of growth is discussed in light of current ideas concerning the contribution of genetics vs. environment to childhood growth and population wellbeing. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Rethinking Ancient Maya Social Organization: Replacing "Lineage" with "House"

Long-standing disagreements concerning prehispanic Maya kinship and social organization have focused on the nature of their corporate groups, generally presumed to have been lineages. Specific debates center on whether the lineages were patrilineal or incorporated some kind of double-descent reckoning, how descent was combined with locality to define a group, and the status of lineage-outsiders within a group. It is argued here that Maya social organization is better approached within the contemporary critique of kinship, replacing "lineage" with Lévi-Strauss's model of the "house"—a corporate group maintaining an estate perpetuated by the recruitment of members whose relationships are expressed "in the language" of kinship and affinity and affirmed by purposeful actions. In this perspective, the operation of corporate groups is the primary concern, and relationships construed in terms of consanguinity and affinity are seen as strategies pursued to enhance and perpetuate the group, [ancestor veneration, house society, kinship, Maya, social organization]     

Suggesting a new European language policy

Conflict is the most intriguing aspect of contact linguistics. Throughout history ever since the Tower of Babel was left unfinished, contacts between speakers of different languages have unavoidably resulted in conflicts between speakers of those languages. Without any doubt, the European Union (EU)--above all after the decision to enlarge the community--has accepted the multidisciplinary symbolic function of language and culture as a basis for European political unification. Accordingly, European Union policy makers have had to analyze conflicts caused by monolingualism and multilingualism, all aspects of contact linguistics. Can these conflicts be solved, minimized or neutralized by strategies of language planning, language policies and language politics? Initial results of European language policy strategies permit at least a cautious measure of optimism and open broad perspectives for the future of a New Multilingualism which will be discussed in our contribution.     

Communication between Spanish-speaking patients and their doctors in medical encounters

Little research in patient-doctor communication addresses the profound difficulties that emerge as Spanish-speaking patients seek medical services in the U.S. This study examines the interaction of language and culture in medical encounters between Spanish-speaking Latino patients and their doctors who have a range of Spanish language ability and a variety of cultural backgrounds. Initial ethnographic fieldwork investigated Spanish-speaking patients' perceptions of doctors' Spanish language skill as it relates to their medical service. To elaborate on these fieldwork findings, medical encounters were audiotaped for detailed conversational analysis. Data from the two methods illustrate how language and culture interact in accomplishing communicative tasks as doctors attend Spanish-speaking patients.The author would like to express appreciation to the reviewers for the thoughtful detail of their comments on the original version of this paper.     

Speaker Input Variability Does Not Explain Why Larger Populations Have Simpler Languages

A learner’s linguistic input is more variable if it comes from a greater number of speakers. Higher speaker input variability has been shown to facilitate the acquisition of phonemic boundaries, since data drawn from multiple speakers provides more information about the distribution of phonemes in a speech community. It has also been proposed that speaker input variability may have a systematic influence on individual-level learning of morphology, which can in turn influence the group-level characteristics of a language. Languages spoken by larger groups of people have less complex morphology than those spoken in smaller communities. While a mechanism by which the number of speakers could have such an effect is yet to be convincingly identified, differences in speaker input variability, which is thought to be larger in larger groups, may provide an explanation. By hindering the acquisition, and hence faithful cross-generational transfer, of complex morphology, higher speaker input variability may result in structural simplification. We assess this claim in two experiments which investigate the effect of such variability on language learning, considering its influence on a learner’s ability to segment a continuous speech stream and acquire a morphologically complex miniature language. We ultimately find no evidence to support the proposal that speaker input variability influences language learning and so cannot support the hypothesis that it explains how population size determines the structural properties of language.     

Earth Ovens (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Píib</Emphasis>) in the Maya Lowlands: Ethnobotanical Data Supporting Early Use

Earth Ovens ( Píib ) in the Maya Lowlands: Ethnobotanical Data Supporting Early Use. Earth oven cooking is very important among the Yucatec Maya. It is used for daily, festive, and ceremonial occasions, contrasting with other Mesoamerican cultures that use this technique sporadically. In this paper we present an ethnobotanical analysis of the use of earth ovens in a Maya community in Yucatan, Mexico, and discuss its possible antiquity, probable reasons for its continuity, and its current and past importance. We found four oven types in daily use as well as in ritual and celebratory contexts. These involve both men and women in a way that favors transmission of traditional knowledge to the next generation and promotes social bonding and ethnic identity. Of the 46 plant species used in their construction or for the dishes cooked in them, 82% are native and produced in traditional agricultural systems: milpa (kool in Maya) maize-bean-squash association and conuco (pach pakal in Maya) based on tubers such as manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Research suggests that this food preparation technology has the same antiquity as its associated agricultural systems (approximately 3400 to 3000 B.C.E.). Earth ovens were probably used to cook roots and meat in the Archaic and then to cook tamales (vegetal-wrapped maize dough) beginning in the Preclassic. Continuity of traditional agricultural and cultural practices has favored preservation of earth ovens.     

Mixing Languages during Learning? Testing the One Subject—One Language Rule

In bilingual communities, mixing languages is avoided in formal schooling: even if two languages are used on a daily basis for teaching, only one language is used to teach each given academic subject. This tenet known as the one subject-one language rule avoids mixing languages in formal schooling because it may hinder learning. The aim of this study was to test the scientific ground of this assumption by investigating the consequences of acquiring new concepts using a method in which two languages are mixed as compared to a purely monolingual method. Native balanced bilingual speakers of Basque and Spanish—adults (Experiment 1) and children (Experiment 2)—learnt new concepts by associating two different features to novel objects. Half of the participants completed the learning process in a multilingual context (one feature was described in Basque and the other one in Spanish); while the other half completed the learning phase in a purely monolingual context (both features were described in Spanish). Different measures of learning were taken, as well as direct and indirect indicators of concept consolidation. We found no evidence in favor of the non-mixing method when comparing the results of two groups in either experiment, and thus failed to give scientific support for the educational premise of the one subject—one language rule.     

Language, Race, and White Public Space

White public space is constructed through (1) intense monitoring of the speech of racialized populations such as Chicanos and Latinos and African Americans for signs of linguistic disorder and (2) the invisibility of almost identical signs in the speech of Whites, where language mixing, required for the expression of a highly valued type of colloquial persona, takes several forms. One such form, Mock Spanish, exhibits a complex semiotics. By direct indexicality, Mock Spanish presents speakers as possessing desirable personal qualities. By indirect indexicality, it reproduces highly negative racializing stereotypes of Chicanos and Latinos. In addition, it indirectly indexes "whiteness" as an unmarked normative order. Mock Spanish is compared to White "crossover" uses of African American English. Finally, the question of the potential for such usages to be reshaped to subvert the order of racial practices in discourse is briefly explored.     

Mariachi and Spanish speaking English learners: District initiatives,models, and education policy

ABSTRACT

Districts nationwide are challenged with how best to address the needs of an increasing number of non-English or limited-English speaking students. These young people are similarly challenged as they face new environs, unfamiliar cultural settings, and significant communication issues. Findings have indicated that an arts-rich education can assist limited English speakers, many of them considered to be at-risk students, to achieve at higher levels. This article examines a number of districts with growing Hispanic populations that have implemented standards-based mariachi programs and found success in engaging Spanish speaking English learners, their parents, and the Hispanic community at large in the process. Some of these districts had considerable issues needing to be resolved but innovative solutions have led to student success. One district that serves as a model to be replicated is chronicled in detail due to how its creative program implementation subsequently informed policy. School climate data is also provided by another district, which broke down its reporting according to subgroup. Although the data do not measure only those who were enrolled solely in mariachi courses, the major findings are significant in that they indicate how music coursework impacts Latino students specifically. The impact of participating as an active music-maker in any ensemble by any participant cannot be overlooked, but for Spanish speaking English learners, the standards-based mariachi program provides a culturally familiar and welcoming setting, facilitates new patterns of learning, and addresses the priority of attaining English language proficiency.     

Disruption of peripheral target contact influences the development of identified central dendritic branches in a leech motor neuron in vivo

Retrograde signaling from target tissues has been shown to influence many aspects of neuronal development in a number of developmental systems. In these experiments using embryonic leeches (Hirudo medicinalis), we examined how depriving a neuron of contact with its peripheral target affects the development of the cell's central arborization. We focused our attention on the motor neuron cell 3, which normally stimulates dorsal longitudinal muscle fibers to contract. At different locations in the periphery and in embryos of several different stages, we cut the nerve containing the growing axon of cell 3. This surgery led to dramatic overgrowth of cell 3's central dendritic branches, which normally accept synaptic contacts from other neurons, including the inhibitory motor neuron cell 1. When cell 3's peripheral axon was cut relatively early in development, its overgrown central branches eventually retracted. However, cells that were disrupted later in development retained their overextended branches into adulthood. In addition, if the axon was cut close to the ganglion early in development, depriving the cell of contact with any dorsal tissues, the central branches failed to retract and were instead retained into adulthood. Unlike cell 3, the central branches of cell 1, which has the same peripheral target muscles as cell 3, remained unchanged following all axotomy protocols. These results suggest that in at least some neurons contact with peripheral targets can influence development of the central processes that normally mediate synaptic contacts.     

Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages

Languages, like genes, evolve by a process of descent with modification. This striking similarity between biological and linguistic evolution allows us to apply phylogenetic methods to explore how languages, as well as the people who speak them, are related to one another through evolutionary history. Language phylogenies constructed with lexical data have so far revealed population expansions of Austronesian, Indo-European and Bantu speakers. However, how robustly a phylogenetic approach can chart the history of language evolution and what language phylogenies reveal about human prehistory must be investigated more thoroughly on a global scale. Here we report a phylogeny of 59 Japonic languages and dialects. We used this phylogeny to estimate time depth of its root and compared it with the time suggested by an agricultural expansion scenario for Japanese origin. In agreement with the scenario, our results indicate that Japonic languages descended from a common ancestor approximately 2182 years ago. Together with archaeological and biological evidence, our results suggest that the first farmers of Japan had a profound impact on the origins of both people and languages. On a broader level, our results are consistent with a theory that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity.     

Sources of variation in developmental language disorders: evidence from eye-tracking studies of sentence production

Skilled sentence production involves distinct stages of message conceptualization (deciding what to talk about) and message formulation (deciding how to talk about it). Eye-movement paradigms provide a mechanism for observing how speakers accomplish these aspects of production in real time. These methods have recently been applied to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (LI) in an effort to reveal qualitative differences between groups in sentence production processes. Findings support a multiple-deficit account in which language production is influenced not only by lexical and syntactic constraints, but also by variation in attention control, inhibition and social competence. Thus, children with ASD are especially vulnerable to atypical patterns of visual inspection and verbal utterance. The potential to influence attentional focus and prime appropriate language structures are considered as a mechanism for facilitating language adaptation and learning.     

Language: specifying the site of modality-independent meaning

Language processing can be triggered by auditory, visual or somatosensory input. A recent study has provided new insight into a fundamental issue raised by this observation: how is knowledge of language implemented in the human brain such that speakers can use any type of sensory-motor input-output system for comprehension and production?     

Climax epiphytic communities in Mediterranean Spain

The Antitrichetalia curtipendulae epiphytic climax communities of Šmarda & Hadàč from the Spanish Mediterranean area have been classified by numerical and traditional floristic methods. Ninety-eight phytosociological relevés have been recorded from a number of Iberian forests. Our results indicate two clusters that can be easily related to two different alliances: Lobarion pulmonariae (Nephrometum resupinati) and Pterogonio gracile-Antitrichion californicae (Antitrichielum californicae). A phytogeographical and syntaxonomical discussion is followed by a suggested Red List of threatened lichens and bryophytes occurring in these communities in the Spanish Mediterranean area with the aim of advancing conservation of endangered and vulnerable species.