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How did Mayan languages influence Xinkan agricultural vocabulary?
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The linguistic evidence suggests that Xinkan speakers were not originally agriculturalists. It is hypothesized that they acquired knowledge of agriculture from their Mayan neighbors, as nearly all agricultural terms in Xinkan languages are loanwords borrowed from Mayan languages.12
This borrowing indicates that the Xinkan people adopted both the practice of farming and the associated vocabulary from the Mayan groups with whom they interacted, rather than possessing these agricultural terms natively.12