Montellano mentions that in the Diccionario Maya Cordemex* Merida: Ediciones Cordemex (1980) we have the following
kan serpent
ka’an heaven
These terms correspond to Mande terms kan sky and kan serpent.
It is obvious the Mande and Mayan terms for sky and serpent share the same phonetic construction K-N .
There are many other shared Mayan and Mande terms. The Mande terms I will compare are taken from Delafosse, Maurice.(1929). *La Langue Mandingue et ses Dialectes (Malinke, Bambara, Dioula)*. Vol 1. Intro. Grammaire, Lexique Francais Mandingue).Paris: Librarie. Orientaliste Paul Geuthner
Often we find that Mande words beginning with /s/ , appear as /c/ ,/x/ or /k/ in the Mayan languages. For example, Malinke Bambara, the word sa means 'sell, to buy and market'. This is related to Mayan con 'to sell', and can 'serpent'. In Quiche we have ka:x 'sky' which corresponds to Mande sa / ka 'sky'. In Quiche many words beginning with /ch/ correspond to words they borrowed from the Malinke-Bambara languages possessing an initial /k/, e.g.,
- Quiche Malinke-Bambara
ch'ich' bird …………kono
achi man……………. kye
chi>ic bite…………… ki
chhix rock…………… kaba
It is also interesting to note that many Quiche words beginning with /x/ which is pronounced 'sh', correspond to words borrowed from Malinke-Bambara with an initial /s/ e.g.,
- Quiche Malinke-Bambara
xab' rain…………… sa
ixa? seed …………..si
uxe root…………….. sulu, suru
Other loan words in Quiche from Malinke-Bambara include:
- Quiche Malinke-Bambara
saq'e daytime,sunlight ……………sa 'heaven, sky'
k'i many………………………………….. kika
ja lineage, family……………………. ga, gba
ja water…………………………………….. ji
q'aq fire ……………………………………ga-ndi
palo lake, sea………………………….. ba, b'la
k'oto to carve, cut………………… ka
k':um squash …………………………kula, kura
Ba father………………………………. fa
Ba lord ………………………………….Ba 'great' (Person)
ka 'land,earth'………………………… ka 'suffix joined to names of lands,etc.
naal parent,……………………………….. mother na
cah earth,…………………………………….. land ka (see above)
balam jaguar/tiger…………………………. balan 'leopard worship'
xuku? Boat…………………………………………, canoe kulu
k'o:x mask……………………………………………. ku
The loan words in Quiche from Malinke-Bambara show the following patterns
a------->a c------->s
o------->u c------->k
u------->a z------->s
x ---------s k------->k
x--------- k p------->f
q------->k ch------>k
Below we compared Yucatec and Malinke-Bambara terms. I have placed the page number where each Mayan term can be found in Maurice Swadesh, Critina Alvarez and Juan R. Bastarrachea's, "Diccionario de Elementos del Maya Yucatec Colonial" (Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Centro de Estudios Mayas, 1970). The Malinke-Bambara terms come from Delafosse, Maurice.(1929). *La Langue Mandingue et ses Dialectes (Malinke, Bambara, Dioula)*. Vol 1. Intro. Grammaire, Lexique Francais Mandingue).Paris: Librarie. Orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Phonetic correspondences exists between the Malinke-Bambara and Yucatec. There is full agreement between k, m,n, and t. There is also assimilation of c to k, z to s.
- Yucatec Malinke Bambara
z s
Zuu, 'joined,unite su,' shape p.95
Zul 'to wet' su, 'precipitation p.95
Zou, 'to entagle' su, 'be i mixture' p.95
Zay, 'assemble' se, 'join' p.94
c k
Earth cab ka p.15
Serpent can kan p.18
Rock chhix kaba
To cause cal ku
Sky caan ka p.15, p.38
Village cah ka 'suffix joined to names of towns p.15
Maize co 'grain of maize' ka p.40
k k
Sun kin k'le p.58
Buckle kal koli p.57
To kill kim ki
Sky kan kan
God, sacre ku ku, ko p.60
t t
Man ta' tye p.79
Come tal ta p.79
To cover too tu
Law toh tu
Truth toh tu, 'fact, real' p.81
Forest te tu
Male ton,'male sexual organ' tye, khon p.81
Saliva tub tu p.82
b b
Went,gone bin bi p.36
Water bak ba
Water ha a p.15
Lord ba ba
Arrows been bine
Balan 'jaguar'/tiger balan 'leopard worship' p.17
n n
Mother na' na p.66
House nu nu
House na nu p.66
Nose ni nu p.16
p p
To be pe pe
To break pa'a pe p.71
An examination of Mayan and Mande homophones also indicates striking similarity. There is a connection between Malinke- Bambara and Yucatec homonyms for 'high, sky and serpent'.
In Malinke-Bambara the word Ka and Kan means 'serpent, upon high,and sky'. In Yucatec we find that can/kan and caan/kaan means ' serpent and heaven'. The fact that both languages share the same homophonic words , point to a formerly intimate contact between the speakers of Mayan and Mande languages in ancient times.
Often we find that some borrowed Mande words beginning with /s/ , through nativization appear as /c/ in the Mayan languages. For example, word the Malinke-Bambara word sa means 'sell, to buy and market'. This is related to Mayan con 'to sell', and can 'serpent'. We also have other examples
Mayan Malinke-Bambara
[list]
Can serpent sa
Con to sell sa, san
Caan heaven, sky sa
Cah 'small village' so 'village, home'
The copying of Mande /s/ words into Mayan lexicons as /c/ words are probably the result of phonological interference of Mayan /c/, which influenced how Malinke-Bambara words were lexicalized by biligual Yucatec speakers. Interference occurs when speakers carry features from their first language over into a second language. Thus, we have Yucatec con 'to sell', and Malinke-Bambara san 'to sell. Many of the Mayan sites were first settled by the Olmec.
This is supported by the fact that the Mayan inscriptions from Palenque claim that the first ruler of this city was the Olmec leader U-Kix-chan. In addition, some Mayan kings were styled Kuk according to Mary Miller and Karl Taube,in "The Gods and symbols of ancient Mexico and Maya, said this term was also used in the Olmec inscriptions, like those from Tuxtla, to denote the local ruler of many Olmec sites. It was probably during this period of contact that the Maya began to copy Mande terms and incorporate them in their lexicon. It is time that we stop the name calling and work together to explain to the world the African presence in ancient America.
Many of these loan words are from the basic vocabulary. They support the hypothesis that in ancient times Mayan speakers lived in intimate contact with the Mande speaking Olmec people. Moreover this is further confirmation of Leo Wiener's theory in Africa and the Discovery of America that the religion and culture of the Meso-Americans was influenced by Mande speaking people from West Africa.
