Tzeltal numeral classifiers: A study in ethnographic semantics

245 Pages·1968·23.573 MB·English

by  Brent Berlin

TZELTAL NUMERAL CLASSIFIERS
A STUDY IN ETHNOGRAPHIC SEMANTICS
JANUA LINGUARUM
STUDIA MEMORIAE
NICOLAI VAN WIJK DEDICATA
edenda curai
C. H. VAN SCHOONEVELD
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
SERIES PRACTICA
70
1968
MOUTON
THE HAGUE • PARIS
TZELTAL
NUMERAL C L A S S I F I E RS
A STUDY IN ETHNOGRAPHIC SEMANTICS
by
BRENT BERLIN
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
1968
MOUTON
THE HAGUE • PARIS
© Copyright 1968 in The Netherlands.
Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague.
No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm,
or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 68-13345
Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague.
To William E. Bittie

"To the ethnologist, the semantics of the language of the people in whom he is
interested is a subject of considerable interest since it presents him with a practically
exhaustive classification of the objects in the cultural universe of the speakers."
Joseph H. Greenberg (1948:142)
"...to ask what it is that enables a man to tell the difference between A and B involves
a different procedure from asking what goes to make up A and B. The difference
in procedure is due to the fact that the subject cannot give a precise account of how
he goes about making distinctions. But he can tell whether A and B are the same
or different. The scientist's job is to analyze the difference and thereby uncover the
hidden system of his subjects."
Edward Hall (1959:108)
"... and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable —"
"Found what?" said the Duck.
"Found it", the Mouse replied rather crossly: "of course you know what 'it'
means."
"I know what 'it' means well enough, when / find a thing", said the Duck: "it's
generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?"
Lewis Carroll (1960:47)

PREFACE
In the Fall of 1960,1 began descriptive linguistic work on a dialect of Tzeltal spoken
in the community of Tenejapa, state of Chiapas, Mexico. This research continued
until the following summer under the auspices of the University of Chicago and with
the supervison of Norman A. McQuown.1 The descriptive linguistic background
in Tzeltal led to an interest in the semantic implications of a series of linguistic forms
termed classifiers with which the present research deals. The months of June to
December, 1962 and of January through June, 1964 were spent in the field collecting
data related to this problem and, in part, analyzing it under the auspices of the De-
partment of Anthropology at Stanford University. A large portion of the work was
generously supported by funds made available from the National Science Foundation.2
The form of the study as it now stands is a revised version of my Stanford Univer-
sity dissertation, some aspects of the research having appeared elsewhere.3 Funds
from the Laboratory of Social Relations at Harvard University have contributed
to the preparation of the final manuscript and the comparative appendix of Tzeltal-
Tzotzil numeral classifiers.4
In attempting this study in ethnographic semantics I have striven to employ as
often as possible linguistic techniques in the analysis of what may be considered an
essentially ethnographic problem. As such, I would hope that it might contribute
to the growing body of substantive studies in the general area of linguistic anthropol-
ogy.
I have spent a good deal of space in outlining in detail the actual procedures em-
ployed at each stage of the analysis. It may appear at times that I have been overly
explicit. However, should the possibility of replication be an important consideration
in ethnographic semantics, some effort must be made to discuss the pure mechanics
of ethnographic elicitation.
In conducting and in bringing this work to its present stage I am deeply grateful
for the generous support of numerous persons. I would like to thank Floyd Louns-
1 Funds granted by the National Science Foundation, and National Institute of Mental Health,
Norman A. McQuown, Principal Investigator.
2 Grant G22152, A. Kimball Romney, Principal Investigator.
3 See Berlin and Romney (1964).
4 I wish to thank Robert F. Bales, Director of the Laboratory and Evon Z. Vogt for help in obtaining
this financial assistance.