As of 2022, Polina Pleshak is in the third year of her Graduate studies in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Maryland. She received her Bachelor’s and Master's Degrees at the department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Pleshak works primarily in formal syntax and is particularly interested in Noun Phrase structure. She works with Finno-Ugric languages, primarily Moksha and Hill Mari, but also Izhma Komi, Khanty and Hungarian. Pleshak also studies Kaqchikel, a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala.
Irina Burukina is an assistant professor at the Department of English Linguistics at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) and a postdoctoral researcher at the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, ELKH. Burukina studies syntax, morphology, and syntax-semantics interface, with a primarily focus on Uralic and Slavic languages. Her work on Kaqchikel (a Mayan language) examines argument structure and the voice system, focusing on predication, deverbal nominalization, and voice. Burukina obtained her at the Department of English Linguistics at ELTE in 2019, with the dissertation "Raising and control in non-finite clausal complementation.”
Mayan languages are a group of approximately thirty daughter languages descended from a common ancestral language, Proto-Mayan, spoken over 5000 years ago. At least 6 million people in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras are Mayan speakers. Kaqchikel is one of the Mayan languages that belongs to the K’iche’an branch, closely related to the K'iche and Tz'utujil languages. With approximately 475,000 speakers in 2012, it is spoken by the indigenous Kaqchikel people who live in central Guatemala. The Kaqchikel linguistic region comprises numerous municipalities, which places them among the four largest Mayan language groups of Guatemala. Many Kaqchikels live in or near urban centers such as Guatemala City, Tecpán, Comalapa, and Chimaltenango. The Kaqchikel lived in Iximché from 1470 until its abandonment in 1524. They recorded their history in the book Annals of the Cakchiquels. It is included in a collection of documents known as the Kaqchikel Chronicles that traces Kaqchikel Maya history from their departure from Tollan through their migrations, wars, and the Spanish conquest.
[Information adapted from “Kaqchikel Language Revitalization: A journey of linguistic and cultural reaffirmation in the Maya highlands” by Christine Gu, The University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology; Web. Date Accessed: 08/30/2023]
Linguistic research investigating syntax and various forms of nominalization in Kaqchikel, an indigenous language of central Guatemala. One USB flash drive containing 25 questionnaires examining nominalization and voice under nominalization in Kaqchikel together with field notes and commentaries (25 .txt files, digital versions only); 1 report including elicitation data on referential nominal phrases and various prenominal modifiers (1 .doc file, digital version only); 1 document describing the consultants (1 .txt file). Field work took place in Patzún, Guatemala between June and July; 2019. Consultants include Señora Irma Raquec Teleguario, Señora Gloria Imelda Ixim, Señora Gloria Esmeralda Canú Chirix, Señor Filiberto Patal Majzul, Señora Gilda Esperanza Cum Ixёn, and Señora Reyna Cocon Coy; all are bilingual native speakers of Kaqchikel and Spanish. Connection with the community was established with the help of the local women’s cooperative Cooperativa Integral de Produccion Aj Su'm R. L.
Forms part of the Jacobs Research Fund Collection
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Polina Pleshak, 2020-02-18