A historical sociolinguistic study of two linguistic variables in epigraphic Mayan during the classic period

Abstract This paper applies a historical sociolinguistic framework to the study of Epigraphic Mayan (EMY), a logosyllabic writing system (ca. 400 bce–ce 1700) innovated by speakers of the Ch’olan and Yucatecan (Mayan) languages. Two variables are studied: 1) the Common Ch’olan *h, *j > /j/ merger (/j/ = IPA /x/); and 2) Common Ch’olan ʔaj= ∼ ʔa= ‘male/large/active proclitic classifier’. For each variable, a comprehensive dataset was compiled using the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2024) to study, through a quantitative approach: the nature (linguistic vs. orthographic) of the variables; their temporal and geographic distribution; and the influence of scriptal, linguistic, and social factors. The results show that: 1) the two variables are not interrelated; 2) the innovative variant for each variable shows a significant association with (less “conservative/formal”) portable inscriptions, and began spreading earlier than previously thought, but generally in previously identified geographic patterns; 3) the *h, *j > /j/ merger spread in association with Top Rank Size sites, likely reflecting a linguistic change-in-progress, followed by a (newly discovered) conservative orthographic reversal; and 4) that the ʔaj= ∼ ʔa= variable spread in association with Bottom Rank Size sites, but its nature as a linguistic or orthographic variable remains unclear.