The discussion regarding the definition of writing, and of what Mesoamerican systems can teach us about writing in general, is fascinating, difficult, and somewhat pricklish. Ever since Ignace Gelb commited the double mistake of relegating both Aztec and Maya writing to the category of “limited systems” or “precursors of writing” (1963 [1952]: 51-59), scholars have extensively discussed on the nature of Mesoamerican writing systems, disagreeing more often than not [1]. While the field of Maya epigraphy has tended towards convergence and a state of consensus regarding the fundamentals [2], non-Maya writing systems have been the centre of a heated debate that will previsible continue unabated in the coming years [3].
The article that I link in this entry certainly won’t solve the issue and is, in many ways, nothing essentially new (despite the presence of a couple of new analyses), but I felt compelled to write it after I realised that, in a way, it is possible to theoretically reconcile both of the major perspectives in the debate (which could be vaguely named “semasiography” and “grammatology”) if different theoretical referents are used, specially non-traditional linguistics. However, in the end, I am conscious that the most important thing is not the theoretical underpinnings (theory evolves, comes and goes), but concrete issues. Thus, this article was written as a bit of a prologue to further contributions. I hope readers enjoy it, despite its faults.
Link to the electronic version: https://journals.openedition.org/signata/3866
PDF:
Notes
[1] Some milestones are: Thompson 1950, Prem and Riese 1983, Justeson and Campbell 1984, Galarza 1996, Davletshin 2002, Lacadena 2008, Thouvenot 2010, Velásquez García 2010, Boone 2011, Whittaker 2011, Mikulska 2015, 2019, Zender 2017.
[2] See Houston, Stuart and Chinchilla 2001 for an anthology on the history of Maya decipherment.
[3] See Mikulska and Offner 2019, Davletshin 2021, Whittaker 2021 for recent, contrasting points of view.
References
Boone, Elizabeth Hill. 2011. “The Cultural Category of Scripts, Signs, and Pictographies.” In Their Way of Writing: Scripts, Signs, and Pictographies in Pre-Columbian America, ed. Elizabeth Hill Boone and Gary Urton, 379–390. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
Davletshin, Albert. 2003. Paleography of the Ancient Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, PhD dissertation, Moscow: Russian State University for the Humanities, Knorozov Center of Mesoamerican Studies (in Russian).
Davletshin, Alberto. 2021. “Descripción funcional de la escritura jeroglífica náhuatl y una lista de términos técnicos para el análisis de sus deletreos” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 62: 43-91.
Galarza, Joaquín. 1996. Tlacuiloa, escribir pintando. Algunas reflexiones sobre la escritura azteca. Glosario de términos. Mexico: Editorial Tava.
Gelb, Ignace Jay. 1963. A Study of Writing, 2nd edition. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.
Houston, Stephen, Oswaldo Fernando Chinchilla Mazariegos, and David Stuart, eds. 2001. The decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing, Norman, OK: Oklahoma Press.
Lacadena, Alfonso. 2008. “Regional Scribal Traditions: Methodological Implications for the Decipherment of Nahuatl Writing.” The PARI Journal, 8 (4): 1-22.
Mikulska, Katarzyna. 2015. Tejiendo destinos. Un acercamiento al sistema de comunicación gráfica en los códices adivinatorios. Zinacantepec: El Colegio Mexiquense A. C.
Mikulska, Katarzyna, and Offner, Jerome A. 2019. Indigenous Graphic Communication Systems: A Theoretical Approach. Boulder, CO: Colorado University Press.
Prem, Hanns J., and Berthold Riese. 1983. “Autochtonous American Writing Systems: The Aztec and Maya Examples.” In Writing in Focus, ed. Florian Coulmas and Konrad Ehlich, 167–186. Berlin: Mouton.
Thompson, Eric Sidney. 1950. Maya hieroglyphic writing: an introduction. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
Velásquez García, Erik, 2010. “Imagen y escritura en Mesoamérica”, en Ma. Teresa Uriarte (coord.), De la Antigua California al Desierto de Atacama, México, UNAM, pp. 59-84.
Whittaker, Gordon. 2009. “The Principles of Nahuatl Writing.” Göttinger Beiträge zur
Sprachwissenschaft 16: 47–81.
Whittaker, Gordon. 2021. Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs: A Guide to Nahuatl Writing. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Zamora, Alonso. 2022. “Towards a Complex Theory of Writing.” Signata: Annales des sémiotiques 13. URL: <http://journals.openedition.org/signata/3866>.
Zender, Marc. 2017. “Theory and Method in Maya Decipherment.” The PARI Journal 18 (2): 1-48.
Tlacuilolli 