Abstract

LENTZ, Mark. Los intérpretes generales de Yucatán: hombres entre dos mundos. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2009, vol.33, pp.135-158. ISSN 0185-2574.

This paper focuses one type of important intermediaries of colonial Yucatan, the general interpreters of Yucatan's Juzgado Privado de Indios. From the time of Gaspar Antonio Chi in 1580 until the demise of this court in the 1820s, these men mediated directly in land disputes, complaints against priests and other officials, and translated decrees initially published in Spanish for the province's Maya-speaking majority. The activities of the interpreters demonstrate that Yucatan had a high number of individuals literate and fluent in both Maya and Spanish until the close of the colonial period. Furthermore, the quantity of qualified individuals serving unofficially as interpreters during the late eighteenth century and the surprising number of non-Mayas in need of their services also shows that the colonial period was a time in which Maya spread as the predominant language of Yucatan rather than a time of decline for the region's native language.

Keywords : interpreters; intermediaries; Chikindzonot; bilingual groups; castes.

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