[Aztlan] laak'

[Hubert Smith]

At any rate, we may be able to lay to rest the "no word for friend" in Maya 
shibboleth as we did

"the Maya are inherently cruel to animals."

(members of PETA close your eyes) Yes, once we did come upon a dog nursing a 
bunch of shotgun pellets. He had

given a go at the family chickens. The owner said, "That was a warning."





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Sullivan" <p.r.sullivan at verizon.net>
To: <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 1:46 PM
Subject: [Aztlan] laak'


>I didn't know this little term was so pregnant with points for discussion.
>
> I'd be hard pressed to prove this without more study, but my
> impression is that the term "laak'" contrasts with the term "hel" in
> otherwise similar expressions, and that the contrast reveals
> something of the connotations of each word.
>
> One can form sentences in Yucatec Maya each of which would translate
> properly into English as: "Give me another."  If one uses laak' to
> mean "another," it carries the connotation, "another of the
> same/similar kind."  If one uses "hel", it means "another of a different 
> kind."
>
> Hube Smith reminded me, for example, that a common Yucatec Maya
> expression of parting is "hasta tu laak' k'iin," "Until another
> day."  But one can also say, "hasta tu hel k'iin,", "Until another
> (different) day."
>
> Anyway, my hypothesis would be that the various dictionary glosses of
> the term laak' should be construed as implying similarity of kind,
> whatever other relationship is being implied -- i.e. kinship,
> companionship, the other one of a pair of things, etc.
>
> There are other Yucatec Maya terms that will also imply, in even more
> powerful ways, intrinsic relationship between two things -- like the
> term "nup" which is most commonly used to refer to the other one of a
> pair of things -- i.e. "Where's the other sock," but which also is
> extended to refer to someone's spouse ("Where's your "nup"" = where's
> your other half,) and which in the Books of Chilam Balam is used to
> denote the paired relationship between events of world destruction
> and creation (creation is the "nup" of destruction).
>
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