A Grammar of Mam, a Mayan language [1 ed.] 0292727267, 9780292727267

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"A splendid treatment of Mam ... with many

implications for comparative Mayan linguistics and general linguistic theory. The lucid and highly readable grammatical presentation makes the work of value to anthropologists and interested laymen, as well as linguists." - Victoria R. Bricker This is the first full-length reference grammar of Mam, a Mayan language spoken today by over 400,000 people in the western highlands of Guatemala and the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The result of over three years of extensive field­ work in Guatemala, A Grammar of Mam, a Mayan Language is based on the dialect of Mam spoken by 12,000 people in San Ildefonso Ixta­ huacan in the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. England organizes A Grammar of Mam ac­

cording to two complementary principles: to

analyze Mam following basically traditional

levels of grammatical description and to

present material in such a way that the back­

ground information necessary for understand­

ing each topic of discussion shall have been

previously provided. Accordingly, England's analysis of the sound system and morphopho­ nemic processes of Mam is followed by a description of the characteristics of root, inflec­ tional, and derivational morphology. Chapters on phrase structure precede two chapters on sentence-level syntax. A Grammar of Mam is of particular interest in analyzing a Mayan language that is both syn­ tactically and morphologically ergative and that is innovative in the direction of strengthening the ergative system. Indeed at all levels of lin­ guistic organization Mam is innovative, and for this reason it is uniquely interesting both his­ torically and theoretically. Ic.\'iI:'; L

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TEXAS LINGUISTICS SERIES

Editorial Board Winfred P. Lehmann, Chair

Joel Sherzer

Carlota S, Smith

A Grammar of Mam, a Mayan Language NORA C. ENGLAND

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS, AUSTIN

CONTENTS

International Standard Book Number 0-292-72726-7

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 82-51115

Copyright © 1983 by the University of Texas Press

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition, 1983

Abbreviations Used in the Examples

ix

INTRODUCTION 3

The Language and People 4

Research 15

Personnel 16

Previous Studies 19

Overview of the Grammar 21

Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, Texas 78712.

1. PHONOLOGY

Phonemic Inventory 24

Phonemic Description 25

Summary of Phonological Processes 36

Stress 37

The Syllable 38

Juncture 39

Notes 41

For reasons of economy and speed this volume has been printed from camera-ready copy furnished by the author, who assumes full responsibility for its contents.

2. MORPHO PHONEMICS 43

Vowels 43

Glottals 51

Nasal Alternation 54

3. ROOTS AND WORDS 55

Verbs 55

Nouns 66

Non-Verbal Predicates 75

Summary of Inflection 78

Positionals 78

Adjectives 83

Affect Words 84

Measure Words 86

Particles 86

Canonical Shape of Roots 93

Notes 96

4. STEM FORMATION 98

Verb Stems 99

Noun Stems 117

The Infinitive Stem 123

L

vi

CONTENTS

LUNThNl ~

Adjective Stems 124

Affect Stems 130

Measure Stems 131

Derived Adverbial Stems 131

Stem Formation Through Vowel Length and Glottal Stop Addition Review of Derivation 133

Notes 138

5. THE NOUN PHRASE

139

The Structure of the Noun Phrase Definiteness 151

Relational Noun Phrases 153

Pronominalization 155

6. THE VERB PHRASE

141

161

Aspect 161

Person 164

Directionals 167

Mode 172

Verb Stem 174

Structure of the Verb Phrase 174

7. SENTENCE FORMATION 177

Verbal Sentences 177

Non-Verbal Sentences 238

Negation 244

Question Formation 248

Coordination 254

Notes 256

8. COMPLEX SENTENCES 258

Dependent Person Marking 258

Dependent Aspect Marking 275

Relative Clauses 290

Complement Clauses 298

Syntactic Clitics 304

Notes 316

Appendix I. Vowel Disharmonic Suffixes 319

Appendix II. Exceptions to Morphophonemic Rules 324

Appendix III. Text 328

Bibliography 343

Index 349

FIGURES

132

1. 2. 3. 4.

The Mam Area in Guatemala 5

The Mayan Language Family 7

The Principal Divisions of the Mam Area 8

The Immediate Constituent Structure of the Noun Phrase 140

TABLES 1. 2. 3. 4.

Vowel Disharmonic Suffixes 48

Agent and Patient Incorporation 62

Passives 210

Antipassive Functions 221

VII

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE EXAMPLES Roots and stems are indicated by glosses in capitals; affixes and clitics are glossed in lower case.

Single letter abbre­

viations for root, stem, or word classes are capitalized if they refer to a root class only. a

adjective

abs n

abstract noun suffix

af

affect root, word

af vb

affect verb suffix

affirm

affirmative

agt

agent

agtv

agentive suffix

ap

antipassive suffix

atten

attenuator

ben

benefactive

caus

causative

cl

classifier

cIt

clitic

com

comitative

cond

conditional

cont

contrary to fact

dat

dative

dep

dependent (aspects)

dir

directional

dist

distributive

ds

directional suffix

emph

emphatic

encl

enclitic

i

intransitive

x

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE EXAMPLES

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE EXAMPLES

imp

imperative

RN

relational noun

inf

infinitive

spec term

specific termination of action derivational

inj

interjection

inst

instrument

t

int

interrogative

Is

transitive first person singular

intens

intensifier

2s

second person singular

Loe PRED

locative/existential predicate

3s

third person singular

n

noun

lp

first person plural

suffix

n+adj

noun to adjective derivational suffix

lp ex

first person plural exclusive

n+t

noun to transitive derivational suffix

lp in

first person plural inclusive

neg

negative

2p

second person plural

ord num

ordinal number

3p

third person plural

p

positional

IsA, etc.

first person singular absolutive, etc.

p+i

positional to intransitive derivational suffix

IsE, etc.

first person singular ergative, etc.

p+t

positional to transitive derivational suffix

Is emph, etc. first person singular emphatic marker, etc.

part

participle

pas

passive

pas?

¢ passive or agentless transitive, depending

pat

patient

perf

perfective

on analysis

plural pos

possessive

pos adj

positional adjective

pot

potential

proc

processive

proc imp

processive imperative

proc pas

processive passive

prog

progressive

rec

recent past

refl

reflexive

reI

relative marker

xi

Note:

Person prefixes are marker I, 2, 3 sip although the

interpretation 1epends on the enclitics. marked I, 2 sip. on verbs.

Enclitics are also

Absolutive/ergative distinctions are marked

Nonverbal predicates are marked absolutive to dis­

tinguish the markers from the enclitics for person, which are contiguous.

Noun possessive prefixes are not marked 'erga­

tive' althouph the prefixes for possession are the same as the ergative markers. Morphemes in the examples and glosses are separated by a -. A slash within a gloss is used to further qualify the gloss; e.g. RN/in means 'relational noun meaning in'.

~IIi

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INTRODUCTION

In response to an advertisement from the Proyecto Lingu!stico Francisco Marroquin (PLFM) calling for linguists to work on Mayan languages, I arrived in Guatemala in August, 1971, with: a master's degree in anthropological linguistics and experi­ ence working on American languages, solid training in descrip­ tive field linguistics, and a determination to successfully tackle my own first language in a "real" field situation. also arrived without:

I

being able to speak Spanish, knowing

which Mayan language I was to work on, or having had any pre­ vious experience living outside the eastern United States. The PLFM taught me Spanish. Terrence Kaufman taught me about Mayan languages. and living in Guatemala for two and a half years taught me to love fieldwork, to love Mayan. and to respect and understand something about the people who speak Mayan languages. During my stay in Guatemala I lived in the town of San Ildefonso Ixtahuacan, in the household of a Mayan family who speak Mam, for a total of several months, and visited friends in that and other villages on many occasions.

People were

very generous in permitting me to share in their daily and festival routines.

These experiences, along with the teaching

of Charles Wagley, Alexander Moore, and William Carter, and the field companionship and conversstio.n with Anne Farber and Kay Warren, helped me to learn about the people.

Linguistic

training by Martha Hardman and Terrence Kaufman gave me the background for this study, which many other Mayan linguists, especially Will Norman. aided and abetted as our paths crossed and recrossed in the field and at meetings.

The people of

4

INTRODUCTION

San Ildefonso Juan

Ord~nez

INTRODUCTION

Ixtahuac~n.

especially Juan Maldonado

Andr~s,

Domingo, and Juan Ortiz Domingo (there are only

20 surnames and almost as few first names used in enabled me to learn Mam.

Ixtahuac~n)

That I speak it indifferently is

not their fault but mine; that I understand its structure is due to their patience and diligence in guiding me through its intricacies. Intricate it certainly is.

My purpose in writing a gram­

mar of Mam has been to explain, as clearly as I can, how the

BELIZ E It PHil

language works.

Mam has the (undeserved) reputation of being

the most difficult of the Mayan languages.

Once the sounds,

which are indeed more troublesome than those of other Mayan MEXICO

languages, are learned it is no more nor less difficult than any other--which is to say that it is a complex language quite different from any European language and at times mad­ taU ltU'U

deningly opaque to the outsider, but learnable, speakable, and analyzable.

This grammar is offered as a glimpse into

a people's mind, as reflected in their language, and also as

Alta ,UIHI

grist for the mill of linguistic theory. Several colleagues were very kind and helpful in reading parts of the manuscript and sharing their comments with me. They are Judith Aissen, Colette Craig, Martha Hardman, Terrence Kaufman, William Ladusaw, and John Watanabe.

Victoria R.

Bricker encouraged me more than she perhaps knows to start, and finish, writing it. the field.

Laura Martin shared a great deal in

Susan Flinspach and Becky Miller compiled the in­

dex, and Cynthia Otis Charlton helped prepare the final copy.

FIGURE

THE MAM AREA IN GUATEMALA

1.

THE LANGUAGE AND PEOPLE

Mam, spoken in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala (figure I), is one of the twenty-four to thirty extant Mayan languages whose

live in Guatemala and Mexico (Kaufman 1974:

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u[ ••• nu GUilT.HlTS

5

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INTRODUCTION

U'II • n.ULI",,'- • •U!'II

35).

It belongs to the Mamean branch of the Eastern Mayan

languages, along with its closest neighbors: Aguacatec (figure 2).

Kekch!

Teco, Ixi1, and

Although an Eastern language,

!~m

Pocomch!

is

Pocomam

bordered on the north and west by Western Mayan languages and

Quich~

shares a number of characteristics with them which are not shared by the Ouichean branch of the Eastern languages.

Sipacapefio

It

,~

Sacapu1tec



is the third largest of the Mayan languages, after Quiche and

Tzutujil

Cakchique1, with more than 439,000 speakers living in 56 dif­

Cakchique1

ferent towns and speaking at least 15 distinct dialects which

Uspantec

can be divided into three major divisions (figure 3) (Kaufman _------Mam Teco

---==-

1976b and the 1973 Guatemalan census). The dialect of Mam which this grammar describes is that

Northern group of Mam dialects.

It belongs to the

Languages in the Mamean

group are few but quite distinct from each other.

None are

mutually intelligible with the possible exception of Teco and Western Mam. dialects.

~

Ixil Jaca1tec

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