Overview

An advanced Kaqchikel textbook that blends language learning with Maya culture. About half a million Maya in the highlands of Guatemala speak Kaqchikel, making it one of the most widely used Mayan languages. Kik’aslemal ri Kaqchikela’ offers guidance for advanced students. Unlike many language textbooks, it is designed with not only fluency but also cultural competency in mind. Inspired by conversations with native speakers, Kaqchikel teachers, and anthropologists focused on Maya communities, Kik’aslemal ri Kaqchikela’ supports language learning through readings on topics important to speakers in Guatemala, including Maya’ Nimab’äl K’u’x (Maya cosmology); Ri Tiko’n (agriculture); Yab’il rik’in Aq’om (disease and medicine); Samaj pa Jay, pa Tinamït (work at home and in town); and more. Chapters present readings on each theme, alongside worksheets, discussion questions framed around Maya history and culture, and a contextualizing essay in English. A Kaqchikel/Spanish/English glossary, extensive grammar appendix, and English translations of the readings support learning. The result is not the usual explanation of language mechanics but instead a nuanced lesson in communication across porous boundaries of cultural difference.

Full Product Details

9781477333426

Table of Contents

Reviews

Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' is an invaluable resource for those who are serious about growing in Kaqchikel Maya fluency. The authors foreground cultural themes that matter to Kaqchikel people, and the language lessons are the richer for it. In fact, Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' should serve as a model for Indigenous language learning materials across the Americas. --Emily Tummons, University of Kansas Brimming with insights from Maya cosmology and agriculture to Indigenous medicine and handicrafts, Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' offers Kaqchikel Maya language lessons that are grounded in the experiences, expertise, and priorities of Native speakers. If linguistic resilience and perseverance is one of the most outward manifestations of Maya resistance to recurrent assaults against their culture and people dating back more than 500 years, Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' offers a testament to just how powerful and effervescent Maya languages and people continue to be. --David Carey Jr., Loyola University Maryland, author of Health in the Highlands: Indigenous Healing and Scientific Medicine in Guatemala and Ecuador

""Brimming with insights from Maya cosmology and agriculture to Indigenous medicine and handicrafts, Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' offers Kaqchikel Maya language lessons that are grounded in the experiences, expertise, and priorities of Native speakers. If linguistic resilience and perseverance is one of the most outward manifestations of Maya resistance to recurrent assaults against their culture and people dating back more than 500 years, Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' offers a testament to just how powerful and effervescent Maya languages and people continue to be."" - David Carey Jr., Loyola University Maryland, author of Health in the Highlands: Indigenous Healing and Scientific Medicine in Guatemala and Ecuador ""Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' is an invaluable resource for those who are serious about growing in Kaqchikel Maya fluency. The authors foreground cultural themes that matter to Kaqchikel people, and the language lessons are the richer for it. In fact, Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela' should serve as a model for Indigenous language learning materials across the Americas."" - Emily Tummons, University of Kansas

Author Information

Waqi' Kan (Walter E. Little) is a professor of anthropology at the University at Albany. He is the author of Mayas in the Marketplace: Tourism, Globalization, and Cultural Identity. Ixq'anil (Judith M. Maxwell) is the Louise Rebecca Schawe and Williedell Schawe Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology at Tulane University, where she directs the Native American and Indigenous Studies program. She is a coauthor of Rowinataworu Luhchi Yoroni: Tunica Language Textbook I and Kiwujil Kaqchikela'. Kawoq (Baldomero Cuma Chávez) is a Kaqchikel language activist, teacher, author, and Maya Spiritual Guide (Ajq'ij). He is the author of Pensamiento Filosófico y Espiritualidad Maya, Runataxik, Qak'aslem: Reviviendo Nuestra Cultura, and Tawetamaj Kaqchikel: Aprenda Kaqchikel, Camino Para Entender la Cosmovisión. Ixnal (Ambrocia Cuma Chávez) is a Kaqchikel language instructor at the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane Unviversity, codirector of Oxlajuj Aj, president of the Junajpu' Weavers' Council, and author of Maicitos II.

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