This subseries of the Mexico/Central America/South America series contains Harrington's Quiche research. The materials consist of linguistic notes, documents from the files of William Gates, grammar, records relating to the "Popul Vuh," and miscellaneous notes.
The linguistic notes contains material elicited from Cipriano Alvaredo. The contents include Quiche (Q.) vocabulary as well as phrases and short texts, including a Quiche poem. Some terms were evidently elicited as a rehearing of Cakchiquel words (labeled "Cak.") excerpted from Brinton's published version of the "Annals of Cakchiquel" and lexical items extracted from Brasseur de Bourbourg's version of the "Popul Vuh." There is extensive commentary on the phonetics of the language, much of which makes reference to kymograph tracings (abbreviated "Tr.;" see "Documents from the Files of William Gates," Items 1 and 2), to the alphabet pronounced into the pallophotophone, and to vowels pronounced for the motion picture footage. Many notes deal with regressive assimilation and diphthongs. Pages 21 to 24 contain notes in the hand of William Gates and sheets 58 and 59 provide a summary by him of the work which he undertook with Harrington and Alvaredo. Also included are a few miscellaneous notes on early English and the science of language. A portion of the notes, dated December 24, 1922 and labeled "Esselen," may be a rehearing of the Esselen vocabulary compiled and published by A. L. Kroeber. It is not clear whether Harrington was utilizing this source merely as an aid to elicitation or for comparative purposes.
The files of William Gates is comprised of numbered documents based on the work which Gates undertook with Harrington and Alvaredo. Each subsection is preceded by an index card drafted by Gates. Section 1, consisting of twelve pages of kymographic tracings of Quiche words, is followed by 210 pages of photostatic copies of mounted tracings, which are arranged in book form. These are followed by India ink copies of the tracings. Part 3 contains field notes recorded by Harrington; some of these notes duplicate material filed under "Linguistic Notes." Section 4 is a bound checklist (nineteen pages) by Gates of kymographic cylinders made at Auburn Hill. Section 5 is a bound typescript (220 pages) of Vocabulario de lengua quiche, by Domingo Basseta. Gates recorded commentary which he obtained from Alvaredo in the margins in pencil. He recorded any annotations provided by Harrington in ink and labeled them "JPH." A related typescript, labeled as item 6, presents Harrington's transcription of the Basseta vocabulary. There is no item number 7. Section 8 is a five-page typed carbon of an article by Gates titled "Modern Linguistic Apparatus." It includes a discussion of the work undertaken with Harrington and Alvaredo using the kymograph and the pallophotophone. Additional notes on the second device are filed as item 9. Also in Gates' hand is a "list of words for study of accent," classified as item 10. Sections 11 and 12 consist of correspondence. The first concerns work with Alvaredo on the kymograph and the pallophotophone. The second contains letters exchanged between Alvaredo and Gates in Quiche, Spanish, and English. The final numbered section, part 13, includes photographs and a newspaper article from the Washington Star, January 1923. Also from Gates' files are several unnumbered items: a letter to Harrington from E. B. Allen regarding a plan to publish Maya material; notes on phonetics, presumably taken from a notebook by Gates, and interleaved with heading sheets by Harrington; and a brochure on the Gates Collection which was to be put up for sale in New York.
Grammatical notes on the Quiche language are arranged in four sections. The first part consists of a draft of a grammar under the heading "Quiche Grammar and Restored Popul Yuh Text wIth Translation." Material on hand includes notes and an outline for the proposed paper, interspersed with slips from Harrington's early fieldwork. Topics covered encompass phonetics, interjections, verbs, numerals, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. A great deal of data were excerpted from the works of Brasseur de Bourbourg (abbreviated "Bras.") and Basseta, as well as from the Diccionario cakchiquel-espanol (abbreviated "Cak-dict."), compiled by Carmelo Saenz de Santa Maria. A second rough draft for a grammar of Quiche comprises the second section. A typed manuscript of 421 pages (former B.A.E. ms. 4781) titled "Quiche Grammar" was submitted to the bureau on March 25, 1948. Although it was prepared for publication as B.A.E. Bulletin 167, it was never released by the editor's office. This version of the grammar consists of textual descriptions and illustrative examples covering phonetics and morphology. A selection from the first part of the "Popul Vuh" is appended at the end of the grammar. Interlinear translations and notes accompany the native text. The two remaining sections of grammatical material consist of slipfiles, which Harrington compiled during the course of his fieldwork in 1922. The first set of slips, labeled "Quiche appendix -not yet put into typewriting," was to be the source of the semantic vocabulary for the first draft of the grammar. The second group, termed by Harrington "Rejects 1947 & Jan. 1948," constitutes the residue of his files after he had removed all slips which he intended to use in the body of his grammar or the appendix.
Harrington considered the "Popul Vuh" to be "the most remarkable manuscript survival . . . from ancient times in all the Maya area." The records he accumulated which relate to this literary work are of several types. The first is a file of a 491-page transcription of the text as dictated by Cipriano Alvaredo in December 1922. It contains occasional interlinear translations in a mixture of Spanish and English with some annotations on orthography. A second set of notes consists of copies of the text which Harrington and his associate John T. Linkins made from January to March in 1948. Quiche, French, and Spanish versions of the text are interfiled: they continue only through chapter five. The Quiche text and French translation were extracted from Brasseur de Bourbourg and the two Spanish translations and some additional notes from Adrian Recinos and Villacorta and Rodas. Related documents include commentary from Brasseur de Bourbourg and Villacorta and Rodas which was not incorporated into the previous file. There are also miscellaneous notes on various secondary sources.
The remaining material in this subseries include a typed vocabulary from an unidentified written source, excerpts from Aleman's Quiche grammar, and notes on a meeting which Harrington had with William Gates on September 13, 1935.
Biographical / Historical:
For approximately eighteen days from late November to mid-December 1922, Harrington interviewed Cipriano Alvaredo (abbreviated "Cip."), a native of Guatemala. This study was undertaken with the close cooperation of William Gates, founder of The Maya Society, at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia. Gates had brought the "peasant farmer" to the United States the preceding July and prepared for their joint sessions by reviewing Domingo Basseta's Vocabulario de lengua quiche with Alvaredo shortly before Harrington's arrival.
Together they reexamined the dictionary, word by word with Harrington recording Alvaredo's commentary in phonetic script. Alvaredo then dictated the entire "Popul Vuh" (P.V.), a Quiche text which deals with the mythology and historical traditions of the ancient Maya tribe. They also recorded some seventy pages of another native text, the "Annals of Cakchiquel." In addition, some grammatical work was undertaken based on Brasseur de Bourbourg's Grammaire de la langue quichee.
Four days were spent making phonetic tracings on the Rousselot kymograph, which Harrington had brought with him. Under the direction of Professor Charles A. Hoxie of the General Electric Company, pitch studies were made using the pallophotophone, an instrument which records vibrations on film. A series of motion pictures was also taken.
Harrington had intermittent plans to return to his early study of Quiche. In 1937 and 1938 he proposed that Edgar L. Hewett publish a new edition of the "Popul Vuh" text to be coauthored by himself and Robert W. Young. In 1943, 1944, and 1947 he corresponded with Dr. Henry McComas, brother-in-law of William Gates; Edward Brown Allen; and M. Wells Jakeman of Brigham Young University regarding publication of the text, this time in mimeograph format. None of these proposals resulted in the preparation of a new manuscript. It appears that all publication plans were abandoned for lack of funds.
Indians of Central America -- Guatemala Search this
Genre/Form:
Field notes
Vocabulary
Dictionaries
Folklore
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Mexico/Central America/South America series contains Harrington's Cakchiquel research. His notes on the language are relatively brief. They were recorded during the course of his fieldwork on Quiche with Cipriano Alvaredo and William Gates at the latter's home near Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1922.
There are several sets of numbered pages labeled "B. Cak. notes" and "B. Cak. Gram." These consist of vocabulary and phrases with glosses (mostly in Spanish) and some Quiche (Q.) equivalences. There is also a section of sixteen pages based on a rehearing of Flores' 1753 grammar. Differences between the Quiche, Cakchiquel, and Tzutujil forms are noted here.
Harrington's grammatical notes, labeled "Cak. Grammar," probably dates from 1948. It consists merely of a few observations following heading sheets. The format is based largely on an examination of the Diccionario cakchiquel-espanol by Saenz. There is a large section on phonetics in which reference is made to Gates' Maya Grammar. Most of the forms were excerpted from the records which Harrington made with Cipriano Alvaredo (Cip.) in 1922.
There are also several files relating to Harrington's study of the "Annals of Cakchiquel," composed by Francisco E. Arana Xahila. The first, designated as "Cak. Annals Text," contains a complete transcription of the history dated 1922. The text consists almost entirely of straight dictation from Cipriano Alvaredo, based, evidently, on a rehearing of Brinton's published version of the original folio. There are only a few notations on phonetics and little interlinear translation in this 260-page document. This is followed by 119 pages of a typed English translation of the text copied from Brinton through section 164 (the end of Brinton's CakchiqueI text). A note to Althea "Letty" Warren appears at the top of the first page. A final file contains a 536-page handwritten version of the Cakchiquel text which Harrington's copyist, Marta J. Herrera, made in the early 1930s. Two transcriptions are given, one above the other. The top version was copied directly from Brinton (Br.), through paragraph thirty four (page 100). The second is a modification of the transcription which Harrington first recorded in 1922.
Indians of Central America -- Guatemala Search this
Genre/Form:
Field notes
Dictionaries
Vocabulary
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Robert Moody Laughlin was an American ethnologist specializing in the study of Mayan language, history, customs, and folklore. He spent the majority of his career working for the Smithsonian Institution, first with the Bureau of American Ethnology, then with the Department of Anthropology. He was a curator emeritus with the department from his retirement in 2006 until his death in 2020.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers (1899-2016, bulk 1954-2016) document his research and professional activities and primarily deal with language and folktales he recorded and studied, as well as the culture and history of the Tzotzil and other Mayan groups in the Chiapas region. His involvement in language education and training, advocacy for the Tzotzil and language and cultural revitalization, and administrative matters at the Smithsonian are also represented. The collection consists of materials created for books and other publications, field notes, research materials, correspondence, administrative files, sound recordings, video recordings, photographs, and electronic records.
Scope and Contents:
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers (1899-2016, bulk 1954-2016) document his research and professional activities and primarily deal with language and folktales he recorded and studied, as well as the culture and history of the Tzotzil and other Mayan groups in the Chiapas region. His involvement in language education and training, advocacy for the Tzotzil and language and cultural revitalization, and administrative matters at the Smithsonian are also represented. The collection consists of materials created for books and other publications, field notes, research materials, correspondence, administrative files, sound recordings, video recordings, photographs, and electronic records.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 14 series: Series 1. Tzotzil Dictionaries, 1963-1988, undated; Series 2. Of Wonders Wild and New, 1963-1976; Series 3. Of Cabbages and Kings, 1960-1977; Series 4. Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax, 1963-1980; Series 5. Other Writings by Laughlin, 1956-2006; Series 6. Writings by Others, 1954-2002; Series 7. Biographical Files, 1906-2003; Series 8. Correspondence, 1899-1900, 1948-2002; Series 9. Research and Field Notes, 1954-1993; Series 10. Sna Jtz'ibajom, 1983-2016; Series 11. Administrative Files, 1961-2014;
Series 12. Sound Recordings, circa 1960-2004; Series 13. Video Recordings, 1985-2002, undated; Series 14. Photographic Material, 1985-circa 2007, undated; Series 15. Electronic Files, 1985-circa 2004.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Moody Laughlin (also known as Lol Bik'it Nab in Tzotzil) was an ethnologist in the Smithsonian Department of Anthropology specializing in modern and colonial Tzotzil lexicography as well as Tzotzil oral history, worldview, dreams, prayers, ethnobotany, and history. As a pioneer in advocacy anthropology, Laughlin spent the majority of his career working to support the Chiapas Mayas through his publications, research, and other professional efforts. Among his most notable contributions to local and global understandings of the Chiapas Mayas and the Tzotzil language were his publication of The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantan (1975) and his work in founding Sna Jtz'ibajom, a writers collective based in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
Laughlin was born in 1934 in Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelors degree in English in 1956. He first visited the Chiapas area of Mexico in 1957 as a graduate student at the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico City. He then transferred to Harvard University and began studying under cultural anthropologist Evon Vogt who had recently started the Harvard Chiapas Project. Laughlin completed his field work in Zinacantan, where he learned to speak Tzotzil. After receiving his Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard in 1963, he collected myths and folk tales in Zinacantan as an ethnologist for the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnology. During regular trips to the field in Chiapas, Mexico, he also worked to compile a dictionary of Tzotzil words. After fourteen years of work, The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantan was published in 1975.
After his dictionary was published, Laughlin returned to the study of folk tales and culture in Tzotzil and other Mayan cultural groups in Central America. He published several books on stories, dreams, marriage and other customs, ethnobotany, and history of the Tzotzil peoples. Laughlin's efforts at revitalizing the Tzotzil language and promoting the area's culture sparked significant Tzotzil interest in their own language and history, but illiteracy was still a major barrier to cultural revitalization. In 1983, Laughlin helped found Sna Jtz'ibajom (House of the Writer), a writers cooperative that took writings about Tzotzil history, folklore, and customs and translated them into Tzotzil. Sna Jtz'ibajom also created Teatro Lo'il Maxil (Monkey Business Theater), a group that wrote and performed plays related to Mayan folklore and education about social issues such as family planning and alcoholism.
Laughlin received the Premio Chiapas in Science in 2002 and the PEN Gregory Kolovakos Award for the translation of Spanish (including Native American) literature in 2004. He retired in 2006 and is currently a curator emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution.
Laughlin died on May 28, 2020, of Covid-19 complications.
Sources Consulted
Genzlinger, Neil. "Robert Laughlin, Preserver of a Mayan Language, Dies at 85." New York Times, June 24, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/science/robert-laughlin-preserver-of-a-mayan-language-dies-at-85.html
1934 -- Born on May 29 in Princeton, New Jersey
1956 -- Received Bachelor's Degree in English from Princeton University
1957 -- First trip to Chiapas area of Mexico in 1957 as a graduate student at the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico City
1959 -- Traveled to Chiapas as a member of the Harvard Chiapas Project
1961 -- Received Masters Degree in Anthropology from Harvard University
1962 -- Hired as an ethnologist by the Bureau of American Ethnology (Smithsonian Institution).
1962-1964 -- Ethnologist, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution
1963 -- Received a Ph. D. in Anthropology from Harvard University
1964-1969 -- Associate Curator, Smithsonian Office of Anthropology
1969-1973 -- Associate Curator, Smithsonian Department of Anthropology
1973-2006 -- Curator, Smithsonian Department of Anthropology
1983 -- Aided in the foundation of Sna Jtz'ibajom (House of the Writer) in Chiapas.
2006 -- Retired from the Smithsonian Department of Anthropology.
2020 -- Died on May 28 of Covid-19 complications.
Separated Materials:
Material in Series 13. Video Recordings has been transferred to the National Anthropological Film Collection (NAFC), but is described in the this finding aid.
Provenance:
These papers were donated and transferred to the National Anthropological Archives by Robert M. Laughlin in 1985, 2011, and 2016 under accessions 1974-15, 2011-06, and 2016-16.
Restrictions:
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
The Robert Moody Laughlin papers are open for research.
Electronic media is currently restricted due to preservation concerns.
Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Access to the Robert Moody Laughlin papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Robert Moody Laughlin papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the the Arcadia Fund.
