Ebook: A Maya Grammar

Publisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Publication date: 1921
Number of pages: 334 The indigenous peoples of Mexico and northern Central America have a writing tradition that dates to ancient times, although the construction of grammars, vocabularies, and other primarily linguistic documents has a relatively short history. Serious scholarly treatment of indigenous languages of the newly colonized territories began in the sixteenth century, and was well established during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when published works began emanating from printing presses at Mexico City, Guatemala, and elsewhere. The most notable pioneering efforts in the study of the vernacular languages of Mesoamerica can be identified with the evangelization efforts or with the so-called "Spiritual Conquest" of the region entrusted to the regular orders of the Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Mercedarians (Ricard 1966).