Lexico-semantic stability in the anatomical domain in the Mayan language family

Abstract This paper deals with lexico-semantic stability, specifically in the anatomical domain. The main goal is to develop a method for measuring semantic polysemy and shift, in order to address: (1) the validity of standardized vocabulary lists (e.g., Swadesh 1950 , 1952 , 1955 ; Holman et al. 2008 ; Haspelmath & Tadmor 2009a , 2009b ) for investigating cross-linguistic stability; and (2) the difference between basic and stable vocabulary ( Ratliff 2006 ; Matisoff 2009 ), and its implications for studying remote relationships between language families, on the one hand, and subgroup differentiation within language families, on the other. To study these problems, a total of 50 etyma from the anatomical domain were selected from the Preliminary Etymological Mayan Database ( Kaufman with Justeson 2003 ), and these were then classified employing the novel metric, and further analyzed by means of statistical methods. The results point to: (1) no specific correlation with the stability rankings of the Swadesh and Leipzig-Jakarta lists; (2) support for the “basicness” of etyma from the anatomical domain; (3) several significant relationships between stability and polysemy scores and independent variables relevant to the anatomical domain; (4) evidence of lexico-semantic stability score affinities between Mayan subgroups; and (5) evidence supporting the utility of polysemies to investigate subgrouping and language contact. The paper also offers conclusions and areas for further research.