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Speaking Mexicano: Dynamics of Syncretic Language in Central Mexico

by Jane H. Hill and Kenneth C. Hill

University of Arizona Press, 1986
eISBN: 978-0-8165-4786-9 | Cloth: 978-0-8165-0898-3 | Paper: 978-0-8165-3285-8
Library of Congress Classification PM4070.H55 1986
Dewey Decimal Classification 497.4

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

"The Hills confront far more than what is 'sayable' in terms of Mexicano grammar; they deal with what is actually said, with the relationship between Spanish and Mexicano as resources in the community's linguistic repertoire. . . . One of the major studies of language contact produced within the past forty years."—Language

"The genius of this work is the integration of the linguistic analysis with the cultural and political analysis."—Latin American Anthropology Review

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jane H. Hill is professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. From 1968 to 1983 she was on the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at Wayne State University and headed that department for several years. Her previous book, Mulu’wetam: The First People, was co-authored with Roscinda Nolasquez of the Cupeño Tribe.

Kenneth C. Hill is research associate in linguistics at the University of Arizona. From 1965 to 1985 he was on the faculty of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Michigan and headed that department for several years. Separately and together, the Hills are the authors of many papers in anthropological and linguistic publications.

REVIEWS

"An excellent book which should be read by anyone interested in the study of language in society."—Man"Contains many insights about pressures that motivate linguistic behavior and perception in a bilingual community. . . . The community of people interested in language and its relationships with culture will not doubt the worth of the endeavor."—American Anthropologist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

I. Introduction

II.0. Introduction

II.1. The landscape and the towns

II.2. Political, religious, and social organization

II.3. Making a living

II.4. The economics of ritual

II.5. The world outside

II.6. The structural position of the people of the Malinche in regional, national, and world systems

III.0. The concept of syncretism

III.1. Models for the study of syncretic language

III.2. Mexicano orthography and the representation of Mexicano text

III.3. The sociolinguistic survey of the Malinche towns

IV.1. The name "Mexicano"

IV. 2. Tlahtol: 'Speech, language, word'

IV.3. 'We speak two': the worth of bilingualism

IV.4. Error and mixing: The zone of imperfection

IV.5. The power code and Spanish

IV.6. The purist code and Mexicano folk etymology

IV.7. The concept 'speaker of a language'

IV.8. Mexicano honorific usage

V.0. Introduction

V.1. Borrowing Spanish verbs

V.2. Borrowing Spanish nouns

V.3. Borrowing Spanish modifiers: adjectives

V.4. Borrowing Spanish modifiers: adverbs

V.5. Borrowing Spanish particles

V.6. Borrowing Spanish affixes

V.7. Phonological incorporation of Spanish loans

V.8. Spanish loan frequency

VI.0. Introduction

VI.1. Word order

VI.2. From polysynthesis to analysis

VI.3. Agreement between nouns and modifiers

VI.4. The introduction of relative pronouns in Malinche usage

VI.5. Impersonal constructions with ce and mo-

VI.6. Spanish de and que

VI.7. Miscellaneous convergences in ways of speaking

VII.0. Introduction

VII.1. The linguistic differences between borrowing and code-switching

VII.2. Functions of code-switching

VII.3. A translinguistic approach to code-switching

VIII.0. Introduction

VIII.1. Why the syncretic project is collapsing

VIII.2. Language shift and community solidarity

IX. Epilogue

Appendix A. The interview administered in the Malinche towns

Appendix B. List of speakers

References cited

Index

Index of Speakers

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