Discursos ceremoniales tzotziles: una joya poco estudiada

apart from verbal interchange in daily life and prayers directed to the gods there is another principal form of verbal expression among the tzotzil -and probably among the majority of maya peoples: ceremonial discourses. with the prayers they have in common a strict poetic form, but in contrast to them they are not sung. there exist both private and official ceremonial discourses. the latter are principally blessings for incoming new cargoholders and verbal exchange between different officials who organize a religious feast. of these official discourses several examples are presented, showing both their content and their poetic form of expression with many metaphors.