Normalization, classification and utility of toponymies through geovisualization and webmapping platforms in Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, C.A.

Abstract

This study analyses the contribution of standardization (according to the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala) to geo-visualization in a web map. Classifications were made based on the interpretation of standardized toponyms (considering the translation of the place name and the meaning that the communities have given to these places) since, according to Lefebvre and Paredes Martínez, the communities apply their own categories to the territory. The interrelationships between a toponymy and the environment (communities and natural resources) were contextualized and visualized in a web-map and a dashboard. This analysis clarified some of the questions regarding the geovisualization of natural resources and toponymy in Sacatepéquez. On many occasions, the inhabitants of these communities are accused of being ignorant or unprogressive for opposing various development projects (large-scale constructions); however, the importance and meaning that these places have for the communities is not considered, since for them, many places have the category of linguistic symbol. From the sociolinguistic approach of toponymy, deeper inferences were made, applied to the language of the community (in the Kaqchikel Mayan language); involving elements relevant to the description of the territory, which can be nouns, predicates, or verbs. However, project planners ignore the interrelationships between the territory and the inhabitants’ worldview. Currently, many place names are either named in Spanish (a mixture of Maya Kaqchikel and Spanish) or are named entirely in Spanish, using an illogical literal translation.