[Aztlan] Maya/Mayan, Maya/Mayas

[David Mora-Marin]

Hi:

I think that the situation regarding the terms "Maya" and "Mayan" is 
even more complicated than has been discussed.  For example, many 
ethnologists/cultural anthropologists I know use Maya/Mayas as the 
singular/plural, reflecting not English but Spanish, in fact.  I, 
myself, as a linguistic anthropologist, believe that language is in the 
hands of the language users, not in the hands of the language 
enforcers.  That being said, I do follow convention of Maya/Mayan, for 
the most part.  Thus, I do say/write "the Maya" (e.g. as in "the Dutch" 
or "the Spanish") to refer to the people, and also "Maya" as a modifier 
referring to material remains (e.g. "Maya architecture" and "Maya 
pottery vessel"), and "Mayan" to refer to the language family, but 
also--following linguistic practice, which is almost as time-honored as 
archaeological practice--to refer to Maya people when focusing on them 
as speakers of Mayan languages.  And last, the use of "Maya" to refer 
to hieroglyphic inscriptions is problematic: it harkens back to a time 
when the script was not deciphered, to a time when some great scholars 
even doubted the script conveyed much--if any--linguistic structure.  
But now we now the ancient texts represent a MAYAN language, so why not 
refer to it as the MAYAN SCRIPT?  That is my preference, then, to refer 
to the script and texts as what they are: language.

Anywho....

That's my two quetzales...

David Mora Marin