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23 - When Ethnic Boundaries and Language Boundaries Mismatch

Standardization in Mayan Languages in Multilingual Situations

from Part IV - Beyond the National

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Sergio Romero
Edited by
Wendy Ayres-Bennett  and
John Bellamy
Wendy Ayres-Bennett
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
John Bellamy
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Standardization in multilingual situations entails more challenging social scenarios due to the complexity inherent in the identification of particular varieties in the community’s linguistic repertoire as different languages. Based on four case studies from Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala, this chapter shows how speakers of Mayan languages have implemented sometimes opposed standardization strategies according to their local history, ethnic landscape, sociopolitical context and sociolinguistic economy. The studies show that success is predicated upon adaptation, first, to the social roles of linguistic variation in particular regional, multilingual spaces, and second, to the local, existing writing practices. It also requires dialogue and flexibility by the communities and institutions involved. From the unification of mutually unintelligible varieties under one pan-regional standard to the establishment of different standardized varieties for otherwise mutually intelligible regional vernaculars, standardization processes of Mayan languages in Guatemala are as diverse as the sociopolitical and sociolinguistic contexts in which each language is spoken. Failed or contested standardization is, on the other hand, a result of attempts to impose a single model of standardization on communities with heterogeneous histories and unique articulations of ethnic identity and linguistic variation.

Keywords

language ideologiesmultilingualismstandardizationlinguistic variationethnicityMayan languagesGuatemalaMesoamerica
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization , pp. 621 - 644
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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