{"title":"Subject Indicators and the Decipherment of Genre on Andean Khipus","authors":"S. Hyland","doi":"10.1353/anl.2020.0004","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article analyzes how khipus, Andean knotted cords for communication, indicated their subject matter. Spanish chroniclers attested to the existence of different genres of khipus; however, scholars have not known how or if khipus indicated the genre of data they stored. Ethnographic testimony reveals that needlework bundles—kaytes—attached to primary cords served as subject indicators. This article surveys post-Inka kaytes, examining one from colonial Huarochirí through an interdisciplinary methodology that provides a model for kayte interpretation. This new evidence about subject indicators supports the hypothesis that khipus encoded information through hierarchical levels of significance, and furthers decipherment.","PeriodicalId":35350,"journal":{"name":"Anthropological Linguistics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Anthropological Linguistics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/anl.2020.0004","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Abstract:This article analyzes how khipus, Andean knotted cords for communication, indicated their subject matter. Spanish chroniclers attested to the existence of different genres of khipus; however, scholars have not known how or if khipus indicated the genre of data they stored. Ethnographic testimony reveals that needlework bundles—kaytes—attached to primary cords served as subject indicators. This article surveys post-Inka kaytes, examining one from colonial Huarochirí through an interdisciplinary methodology that provides a model for kayte interpretation. This new evidence about subject indicators supports the hypothesis that khipus encoded information through hierarchical levels of significance, and furthers decipherment.
期刊介绍：
Anthropological Linguistics, a quarterly journal founded in 1959, provides a forum for the full range of scholarly study of the languages and cultures of the peoples of the world, especially the native peoples of the Americas. Embracing the field of language and culture broadly defined, the editors welcome articles and research reports addressing cultural, historical, and philological aspects of linguistic study, including analyses of texts and discourse; studies of semantic systems and cultural classifications; onomastic studies; ethnohistorical papers that draw significantly on linguistic data; studies of linguistic prehistory and genetic classification.
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