Graphemic Variation in Morphosyntactic Context: The Syllable u in Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Writing.

Autor: Matsumoto ME; Department of Religious Studies, The University of Texas at Austin.; Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Topics in cognitive science [Top Cogn Sci] 2024 Nov 09. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 09.
DOI: 10.1111/tops.12765
Abstrakt: Throughout the long history of Classic Maya hieroglyphs, a logosyllabic writing system used from the late first millennium BCE through the mid-second millennium CE in southern Mesoamerica, the most commonly recorded phonetic value was the syllable u (/ʔu/). With over a dozen different u hieroglyphs, Classic Maya scribes had more options for recording /ʔu/ than any other syllable or logograph. Cognitive approaches to writing systems typically attribute graphemic variation (i.e., alternation between signs with equivalent linguistic value) to semantic differences like animacy or to non-linguistic factors like identity. Distribution of Classic Maya u hieroglyphs, however, suggests that morphosyntactic context influenced which grapheme scribes wrote and when. This case suggests that scribal knowledge of Classic Maya hieroglyphs included ideas about writing's relationship to language. It also highlights the cognitive relevance of morphosyntax for a writing system's users as they differentiate among graphic signs with identical linguistic denotation.
(© 2024 Cognitive Science Society LLC.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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