Contact among some Mayan languages: inferences from loanwords

Evidence is assembled showing lexical interference in three Mayan languages (Ixhil, Q'eqchii', and Chicomuceltec) from other Mayan languages. Inferences are made concerning sociolinguistic contexts possibly underlying borrowings. This entails attention to semantic domains into which loanwords group. It is difficult to determine detailed circumstances for loans into Ixhil, but a possible explanation for them is marriage among Ixhilan men and Q'anjob'alan women. Loans into Q'eqchii' mostly relate to influence from neighboring Lowland Mayan languages, in particular Ch'olti'. Borrowings into Chicomuceltec indicate cultural influence from immediately neighboring groups.