Abstract

SIMA LOZANO, Eyder Gabriel; PERALES ESCUDERO, Moisés Damián  and  BE RAMIREZ, Pedro Antonio. Attitudes of Bilingual Yucatec Maya and Spanish into the Mayan Language and its Speakers in Merida, Yucatan. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2014, vol.43, pp.157-179. ISSN 0185-2574.

Some linguistic attitudes towards Yucatec Maya held by various groups of speakers have not been examined. This paper explores the attitudes of Maya-Spanish bilinguals living in Merida toward Yucatec Maya. Our findings indicate that attitudes toward Yucatec Maya are generally positive; the language is currently seen as prestigious. However, the attitudes that bilinguals perceive toward their in-group are both positive and negative. We propose that language policy and planning should explicitly attempt to increase the prestige of the speakers and not only of the language.

Keywords : attitudes; bilingual; Mayan language; Merida.