[Aztlan] Maya-Mayan

[Randa Marhenke]

Here we go again... We seem to have a yearly argument over when to use "Maya"
and when to use "Mayan", so I hope we can cut it short this year.

I must admit, that tho', to save myself from a digressing argument, I usually
submit to editorial "corrections" which usually do _not_ follow Kaufman's
arguments (as stated by Justeson in the following reference), I think this
e-mail--written by Justeson in 1998, sums up the whole Maya/Mayan problem best
of all:

The reference is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aztlan/message/4525?threaded=1&l=1

To Justeson's note I would only add the following argument (of my own):


As to the rule for when to use Maya or Mayan ("Maya" for people, sites, etc
and the Yucatec language; and "Mayan" for the language group), why is it that
we keep having to state it over and over again to relatively educated native
speakers of English??????  I propose that it is because these rules do not
follow the usual norms as to how English is spoken.

Having said that, I hope I do not now get caught up into some drowning
whirlpool that discusses this further for the rest of the month--or longer.  

Best wishes,
Randa (Marhenke)