Description
Mixtec is an Otomaguean language spoken in the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero as well as in numerous immigrant communities in other parts of Mexico and the United States. This thesis performs a narrative analysis of four folk stories from a senior speaker of the Mixtec language found in the community of Ixpantepec-Nieves, District of Silacayoapan, Oaxaca, Mexico. Research questions involve an investigation into how episode boundaries are established, as well as if there is evidence of labovian narrative functional elements. After the digital recording of each story was transcribed and translated, it was separated into numbered speech units according to pause length. Analysis revealed several factors that were consistently present along episode boundaries contributing to the flow of events within the narratives. Future applications includes documentation and the development of pedagogical material.
