The origin of writing systems: Preclassic Mesoamerica

Justeson, John S.

doi:10.1080/00438243.1986.9979981

Cited by 87 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The logosyllabic Maya script, which is abundantly attested after AD 250, appears to have evolved from the same Olmec(oid) recording system (1100-400 BC) that also gave rise to the semasiographic systems of highland Mexico (Justeson 1986). The Mayas used a large number of logograms to write nouns, verbs, and other unbound morphemes, and a relatively compact CV syllabary to write affixes, to clarify the reading of multivocal logograms, and sometimes to replace logograms.…”

Section: Logophonic Scriptsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Writing systems: A case study in cultural evolution

Trigger

1998

Norwegian Archaeological Review

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Section: Logophonic Scriptsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Writing systems: A case study in cultural evolution

Trigger

1998

Norwegian Archaeological Review

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“…Other scripts pre dated and probably served as precursors to Maya writing, notably those attrib uted to the pre-Classic Olmec and Zapotec civilizations (48)(49)(50)69). At one time or another, the Zapotec, Mixtec, and Aztec writing systems were contem-0084-6570/95/1015-0215$05.00 215 Annu.…”

Section: The Nature Of Maya Writingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Maya Epigraphy

Bricker

1995

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

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During the past twenty years, significant progress has been made in determin ing the nature of the Maya script, the subjects covered in the monumental inscriptions, the grammatical structure of Maya writing, and the astronomical content of hieroglyphic texts on the monuments and in the codices. The script is unequivocally logosyllabic in nature, consisting of a mixture of logographic, syllabic, and semantic signs. The monumental texts are primarily concerned with dynastic history, including references to the births, marriages, military exploits, accessions to office, and deaths of rulers and their families, as well as the rituals that they performed. The grammar of hieroglyphic texts corresponds closely in structure to that of the Cholan and Yucatecan languages that were spoken in the region where hieroglyphs occur. And the pre-Columbian Maya were accomplished astronomers who produced complex tables for predicting solar and lunar eclipses, the stations of Venus and Mars, and solstices and equinoxes. The Nature of Maya WritingThe Maya hieroglyphic script was not the only writing system in use during pre-Columbian times in Mesoamerica, a region encompassing the part of Mexico lying south of the Lerma and Panuco rivers, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western part of Honduras and EI Salvador. Other scripts pre dated and probably served as precursors to Maya writing, notably those attrib uted to the pre-Classic Olmec and Zapotec civilizations (48)(49)(50)69). At one time or another, the Zapotec, Mixtec, and Aztec writing systems were contem-0084-6570/95/1015-0215$05.00 215 Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1995.24:215-235. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by University of Sheffield on 07/10/14. For personal use only. Quick links to online content Further ANNUAL REVIEWS

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“…29 First, logograms in the script could represent CVC roots or CVC-VC stems (Justeson 1986. Day signs, for example, often represent polymorphemic words.…”

Section: Logosyllabic Spellings Polymorphemic Logography Phonetic Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consonant deletion, obligatory synharmony, typical suffixing

Mora‐Marín

2010

WL&L

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The Pre-Columbian Mayan hieroglyphic script utilized logograms, representing CVC roots or CVCVC stems, and CV syllabograms. Starting with Knorozov's (1952 etc.) initial breakthroughs in applying a Mayan linguistic model to account for the script's spelling practices, most scholars have assumed that 'synharmonic' spellings of roots or stems, those in which the final consonant is 'complemented' by means of a CV syllabogram whose vowel is identical in quality to that of the root (e.g. C 1 V 1 C 2 -C 2 (V 1 )), exhibited a linguistically 'fictitious' (or silent) vowel; such synharmonic spellings were commonly assumed to be default. Efforts were then aimed at determining the motivation of spellings in which the final syllabogram is instead 'disharmonic' (e.g. C 1 V 1 C 2 -C 2 (V 2 )). Recently, it has been proposed that the vowels of disharmonic spellings were utilized as diacritics applied to the vowels of the preceding syllables in order to convey that such vowels were complex, while maintaining, generally, that synharmonic spellings were default. The present paper offers a thorough review of these proposals and gives arguments against their persuasiveness, abiding instead by four phonological contexts that call for the insertion of fictitious synharmonic vowels, supplemented by morphological conditioning and consonant deletion that account for additional cases of synharmonic spellings, and the vast majority of disharmonic spellings. These principles allow for a major refinement of the definition of 'conventionalized' and 'default' spellings, a new avenue for determining the nature of 'pseudologographic' or 'morphosyllabic' signs based on common syllabograms, and a new cognitive framework for addressing the question of the nature of logograms and syllabograms, as well as the origin and development of Mayan spelling practices.

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The origin of writing systems: Preclassic Mesoamerica

Cited by 87 publications

References 4 publications

Writing systems: A case study in cultural evolution

Writing systems: A case study in cultural evolution

Advances in Maya Epigraphy

Consonant deletion, obligatory synharmony, typical suffixing

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