« Modeling Simplexity versus Complexity : Mazatec Inflectional Classes. A Diasystemic Approach » (2014)
International Workshop of the Surrey Morphology Group, University of Surrey, UK Inflectional Morphology and verb classes in Oto-Manguean, 14-03-2014 (cf. http://linguistlist.org/callconf/browse-conf-action.cfm?ConfID=168415).
The Mazatec diasystem (Popolocan, EO) can be divided into two main zones: the highlands and the lowlands. Other subzones can be further distinguished, such as the Valley (Cañada) and the Puebla area (see San Francisco Huehuetlán data below), or the Midlands (Jalapa de Diaz, Santo Domingo, San Pedro Ixcatlán).
Not only is Mazatec far more regular and easier to describe than what the available data and models from the two or three most famous dialects (Huautla, Jalapa, Chiquihuitlán) suggest since the forties, but it turns out that its very dense dialect network makes the task even easier, as the diasystem varies on a few predictable tricks: preverb selection and class of equipollence, mostly.
Complexity Theory (CT) includes three dimensions for the hierarchization and representation of interactive components in holistic sets: 1) algorithmic complexity, 2) deterministic complexity, 3) aggregate, or communal (especially in the social field) complexity (O’Sullivan, 2004).
