"It has already arrived, we are already in it," he said of the new era. Ivan Gutierrez, a 37-year-old artist who lives in the nearby village, stood before the pyramid and blew a low, sonorous blast on a conch horn. Hundreds of people were scattered around the vast central plaza of Chichen Itza, some kneeling in attitudes of prayer, some seated with arms outstretched in positions of meditation, all facing El Castillo, the massive main pyramid. Whatever the details, the chance to mark epochal change seemed to be the main concern among celebrants drawn to the Yucatan peninsula. It said the Mayan Long Count calendar cycle might not really end until Sunday.
Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History even suggested that historical calculations to synchronize the Mayan and Western calendars might be off a few days. "Wait until the dawn on the 22nd that is when we Maya will speak," Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu had warned at an earlier symposium. One thing became clear to many on the site by Friday morning: The world had not ended. Others looked to Friday's dawn here in the Mayan heartland.
No one was quite sure at what time the Mayas' 13th Baktun would officially end on this Dec. "This world is being reborn as a better world," said Hernandez, a 55-year old accountant who wore an expression of bliss. Genaro Hernandez stood with his arms outstretched to the morning light, all clad in white, facing the pyramids' grey stone, to welcome the new era. The hundreds gathered in the ancient Mayan city, however, said they believed it marked the birth of a new and better age. Some have interpreted the prophetic moment as the end of the world. *: * Fewer people lifted a finger to help us.Ceremonial fires burned and conches sounded off as dawn broke over the steps of the main pyramid at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza Friday, making what many believe is the conclusion of a vast, 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar. *: * A few people lifted a finger to help us. *: Few people lifted a finger to help us. For example, lift a finger usually cannot be used in affirmative sentences, but can be used in sentences with ( term).
FEW OR PHEW LICENSE
: ( term) is grammatically affirmative but semantically negative, and it can license negative polarity items. In other words, few'' in this context means ''a very very small percentage but way over the 3 or 4 usually ascribed to it its use with much much smaller numbers. However, if the population sample size were in the millions, "a few" could refer to several hundred items. If the sample population is say between 5 and 20, a few would mean three or four, but no more than this. * Although indefinite in nature, a few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". * ( term) is used with plural nouns only its synonymous counterpart ( little) is used with nouns.
I don't know how many drinks I've had, but I've had a '''few. Quite a '''few''' of them'' (=''many of them'') ''were pleasantly surprised. I was expecting lots of people at the party, but very few''''' (=''almost none'') ''turned up. (preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.
0 kommentar(er)
