Abstract

SIMA LOZANO, Eyder Gabriel. Attitudes and Imageries about the Jach Maya and the Xe'Ek’ Maya: Two Variants Constructed by Some Speakers in Urban Contexts from Mérida, Cancún, and Chetumal. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2020, vol.55, pp.225-253.  Epub Dec 09, 2020. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm.55.2020.0008.

A constant focus in the literature about language attitudes concerning the Maya language refers to two variants known as jach Maya and xe'ek' Maya. The objective of this study is to explore Maya speakers’ language attitudes as related imageries about these variants’ users, time and space of use. Speakers from three cities, Mérida, Cancún, and Chetumal, served as informants. The concepts of attitudes and imageries provide the theoretical framework of the investigation. The study applied a semi-structured interview and a sociolinguistic survey, followed by a qualitative inductive analysis. The results show significant differences between the natives of each city. A fundamental conclusion is that both variants feed into the imagery towards the language and promote differentiated attitudes. The inclusion of imageries as constructs alongside attitudes affords an explanation grounded on both subjectivity and objectivity, where the speakers position themselves vis-à-vis ways of understanding the Maya language.

Keywords : Attitudes; imageries; jach Maya; xe'ek' Maya; sociolinguistics.