“Cold” and “hot” in Mexico: categories, domains and distribution of a Mesoamerican folk classification system

Abstract

“Cold” and “hot” are the basic categories used in the Mesoamerican system of object and concept classification. Although widely documented in the literature, the information is scattered and deserves to be explored and integrated. The aim was to reanalyze and describe three aspects of the hot-cold system: the terms and categories of classification, the domains of applicability, and their geographic and cultural extension. Information was synthesized from various bibliographic sources on different human groups and places in Mexico. There are categories and terms in the classification that differ between cultures and places. The system is applied in several domains such as the human body, the environment and emotions. Apparently the hot-cold system is mainly used
by the ethnolinguistic groups of the Mesoamerican area and less in northern Mexico. This paper shows how complex, flexible, diverse and extensive this folk taxonomic system is in Mexico.