The Heart of the Matter. Wesley M. Collins

The Heart of the Matter

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Wes Collins reveals patterns of centeredness in various aspects of the Mam language, not only in the lexicon as expected, but in the use of spatial deixis and discourse structure as well. As a linguistic anthropologist, Collins’ goal is to describe centeredness in the language in a way that makes sense to the native speakers: “Without grounding centeredness in the daily lives and speech of the Mam, we run the risk of proving something to ourselves while not shedding any light whatsoever on local custom and categorization.”

Collins contributes greatly to the age-old discussion about the relationship between language and culture, claiming that centeredness is not only a great cultural value for the Mayan peoples of Guatemala but a grammatical theme in their languages as well. He establishes the connections between the use of linguistic centeredness–illustrated in the morphology, syntax, and discourse structure of Mam–and speakers’ living out of that centeredness in their architecture, dress, health system, religion, and self-awareness. This book is written in a clear, logical manner and brings forward new information that both anthropologists and linguists alike will appreciate.

Charlotte Schaengold, Ph.D., Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University

Collins’ discussion of health and wellness in the Mam community is especially careful to integrate historical evidence of cultural contact, ethnographic details of community variation, and on-the-ground observation of specific individual examples of the on-going accommodation of multiple strands of knowledge and experience to form a coherent understanding of the world.

Laura Martin, Ph.D., Professor Emerita (Modern Languages and Anthropology), Cleveland State University; co-author of Culture in Clinical Care

I wish this book had been available to me a half-century ago when I first began trying to learn Agta, an unwritten language in the Philippines. I highly recommend it as a basic how-to guide to ethnography for university courses in linguistic anthropology. Author Collins is an SIL linguistic anthropologist who has spent the past 30-plus years working among the Maya-Mam. In this book he pulls together what he has learned. Collins also ties germane theories to his thesis, such as ethnography as a method, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, emics and etics, worldview, and Collins’s own notion of “centeredness” as an operating principle of the Maya-Mam people. He does not avoid controversial issues, such as the racist philosophy of Mam as a “lesser language,” Mam as an endangered language today, whether culture drives language, whether the introduction of Christianity is an attack on Mayan religion, etc. I highly recommend to linguistic anthropologists who plan to do research in indigenous communities today that they read this book first!

Linguisitcs in light of anthropology is how languages should be studied; anthropology in light of linguistics is how culture should be studied.

Thomas N. Headland, Ph.D., Fellow, American Anthropological Association; and Senior Anthropology Consultant, SIL International

This book is best viewed on a tablet or computer

The Heart of the Matter

Seeking the Center in Maya-Mam Language and Culture

Wesley M. Collins

Foreword by Brian D. Joseph

SIL International®

Dallas, Texas

SIL International®

Publications in Ethnography

The Publications in Ethnography series focuses on cultural studies of minority peoples of various parts of the world. While most volumes are authored by members of SIL International® who have done enthographic research in a minority language, suitable works by others will also occasionally form part of the series.

Series Editor

Mike Cahill

Volume Editors

Joyce Park

Managing Editor

Bonnie Brown

Production Staff

Lois Gourley, Composition Supervisor

Judy Benjamin, Compositor

Barbara Alber, Cover Design©

Cover Photo

Cover photograph by Natasha Schmale

Used by permission of the photographer and the two Mam greeters

ISBN: 978-1-55671-397-2

ISSN: 0-0905-9897

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Contents

Foreword

Preface: What to Expect

Getting Started: The View from a Distance

1.1 The heart of the matter: Centeredness as a cultural and grammatical theme

1.2 How might we show that language and culture are cut from the same cloth?