Metafóricamente el maaya t’aan es una semilla y como tal, en su interior encapsula la forma de vida de los mayas, la identidad cultural, el pensamiento y una forma distinta de mirar al mundo. Una semilla que anhela ser plantada, que ansía germinar, crecer, dar frutos y producir nuevas plantas; sobre todo desea preservar la encomienda que los yuumtsiles le otorgaron: “Que su sonido retumbe por los cuatro puntos cardinales de su nación”.
Metaphorically speaking, maaya t'aan (the Mayan language) is a seed and as such, it encapsulates the Mayan way of life, Maya cultural identity, and thought. It represents different ways of seeing the world. It is a seed that longs to be planted, that wants to germinate, grow, bear fruit, and produce new plants. Above all, the seeds of Mayan language and culture wish to preserve the commendation with the ancestors and to offer a bridge between ancient traditions and the present. This presentation will introduce translators and interpreters to many unique aspects of Mayan language and culture to facilitate communication with clients of Mayan background. It will build mutual understanding between interpreters working with those of Mayan heritage and their clients. May the Mayan language and culture resound through the four cardinal points of the world.
About the presenter
Originally from Peto (Yucatán, México), Lizbeth Carrillo Can is a native Mayan speaker, a Spanish-Mayan/Mayan-Spanish translator, a promoter of the Mayan language, and a Mayan language teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Education in Social Sciences. From 2002 to the present, she has taught courses to promote the acquisition of the Mayan language at various levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced, as well as teaching Mayan literacy and grammar in collaboration with the Institutions: Directorate of Indigenous Education; Itzamná Municipal Academy of Mayan Language, at the institution's COEEST, CECIDHY's sites. She teaches "Spoken Yucatec Mayan" at the Yucatec Mayan Institute and at the UADY's (Autonomous University of the Yucatán) Language Institute Center. She has also been involved in several publication, translation and transcription projects, including: developing literary materials for Mayan-speaking communities published by El Instituto Nacional de Educación para Adultos (2004); voicing one of the characters in the audiobook "Kan maaya yéetel mejen tsikbalo'ob'' published by CEPHCIS, UNAM, Mérida (2009); creating a transcription and translation for the piece "Hispanic Linguistic Symposium" of Blooming, Indiana, E.E.U.U.; editing the book Elementos Esenciales del idioma Maya, published by the Ayuntamiento de Mérida (2015); translating of essays included in the 6th volume of the 2nd edition of the Yucatan Encyclopedia by the State of Yucatán’s Government (2018), publishing the text “U ch'a tuukulil u yúuchil ts'íib yéetel xook ich maayáaj t'aan”/ “Reflections on reading and writing in the Mayan language” (2019), and translating, into Spanish, the Mayan sections of the the Spanish-English-Mayan trilingual book Mar, Arena y Música:, Three Family Tales, written by Carlos Martínez Bolio (2020).
About the host
Allison deFreese is president of the Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters and has been collaborating on translations with writers from the Yucatan including Janil Uc Tun, Karla Marrufo, Nidia Cuan, and David Anuar. Becuase leanring is a lifelong process and every language is important, even those of lesser diffusion, Allison has been studying Yucatec Maya since 2021.
*Note: This workshop will be presented in Spanish
