Basic K'ichee' Grammar

38 Lessons, Revised Edition

James L. Mondloch

• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781607325307, 9781607323891
• eBook ISBN: 9781607324515
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

The K'ichee'an languages—K'ichee', Kaqchikel, Tz¢utujil, Sakapulteko, Achi, and Sipakapense—occupy a prominent place among the indigenous languages of the Americas because of both their historical significance and the number of speakers (more than one million total). Basic K'ichee' Grammar is an extensive and accurate survey of the principal grammatical structures of K'ichee'. Written in a clear, nontechnical style to facilitate the learning of the language, it is the only K'ichee' grammar available in English.
 
A pedagogical rather than a reference grammar, the book is a thorough presentation of the basics of the K'ichee' Maya language organized around graded grammatical lessons accompanied by drills and exercises. Author James L. Mondloch spent ten years in K'ichee'-speaking communities and provides a complete analysis of the K'ichee' verb system based on the everyday speech of the people and using a wealth of examples and detailed commentaries on actual usage.
 
A guide for learning the K'ichee' language, Basic K'ichee' Grammar is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a speaking and reading knowledge of modern K'ichee', including linguists, anthropologists, and art historians, as well as nonacademics working in K'ichee' communities, such as physicians, dentists, community development workers, and educators.
 

Lesson

1

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The K’ichee’ Alphabet

The K’ichee’ alphabet consists of the following sounds:

aa Closely resembles the a in “father.”

aaj	reed		paar	skunk
chaaj	ash		laal	you (sing-form)

(See note 1.)

a A rapidly pronounced a resembling the u in “but.”

aj	fresh ear of corn		ak’	chicken
kar	fish		jal	dried ears of corn

b’ There are two forms of b’:

b’₁ formation: This sound is formed by pulling air from the mouth back into the throat while pronouncing an English b and at the same time momentarily closing the throat before opening the lips to say the b sound.

occurrence: Before vowels.

b’e	road		ab’aj	rock
b’a	gopher		ub’een	tamale with beans inside

b’₂ formation: Made by holding the breath while making a p sound and releasing the air in the mouth between the lips with a small puff of air or without releasing the air.

occurrence: Before c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword by William Norman and Lyle Campbell
• Introduction
• List of Abbreviations and Symbols
• LESSON 1: The K’ichee’ Alphabet
• LESSON 2: The Nonverbal Sentence
• LESSON 3: Pluralization of Nonverbal Sentences
• LESSON 4: Personal Pronouns and the Nonverbal Sentence
• LESSON 5: Adjectives Modifying Nouns
• LESSON 6: Converting Affirmative Sentences into Questions
• LESSON 7: Possessive Pronouns
• LESSON 8: Possessive Pronouns (Continued)
• LESSON 9: Simple Intransitive Verbs in Incomplete Aspect
• LESSON 10: Simple Intransitive Verbs in Completed Aspect; Declension of the Prepositions -umaal and -uuk’
• LESSON 11: Simple Intransitive Verbs Whose Roots Begin with Vowels
• LESSON 12: Imperative Mood for Simple Intransitive Verbs
• LESSON 13: Negatives
• LESSON 14: The Particle wi (u, wu) with Direction and Location Words
• LESSON 15: Derived Transitive Verbs in Incomplete Aspect and Active Voice with Roots Beginning with Consonants
• LESSON 16: Derived Transitive Verbs in Completed Aspect and Active Voice with Roots Beginning with Consonants
• LESSON 17: Derived Transitive Verbs in Active Voice Whose Roots Begin with a Vowel
• LESSON 18: Imperatives of Derived Transitive Verbs in Active Voice and the Reflexives
• LESSON 19: Derived Transitive Verbs in the Simple Passive Voice
• LESSON 20: Derived Transitive Verbs in Completed Passive Voice
• LESSON 21: Derived Transitive Verbs in the Absolutive Antipassive Voice
• LESSON 22: Derived Transitive Verbs in the Agent-Focus Antipassive Voice
• LESSON 23: Special Subclasses of Derived Transitive Verbs and the Use of Independent Personal Pronouns for Emphasis
• LESSON 24: The Demonstrative Articles and Relative Pronouns: we, le, ri
• LESSON 25: The Demonstrative Pronouns: wa’, la’, ri’
• LESSON 26: Radical Transitive Verbs in the Active Voice in Incomplete and Completed Aspects and Intensification of Adjectives with -alaj
• LESSON 27: The Imperatives of Radical Transitive Verbs in Active Voice and Use of the Progressive Aspect Marker katajinik
• LESSON 28: Radical Transitive Verbs in Simple Passive Voice
• LESSON 29: Radical Transitive Verbs in the Completed Passive and Absolutive Antipassive Voices
• LESSON 30: Radical Transitive Verbs in Agent-Focus Antipassive Voice and Use of b’anik with Spanish Verbs
• LESSON 31: The Negative Imperative and Other Negative Forms
• LESSON 32: Perfect Aspect of Radical and Derived Transitive Verbs in Active and Simple Passive Voices and the Special Case of eta’maxik
• LESSON 33: Perfect Aspect of Simple Intransitive Verbs and Radical and Derived Transitive Verbs in Completed Passive, Absolutive Antipassive, and Agent-Focus Antipassive Voices
• LESSON 34: Positional Intransitive Verbs in Incomplete, Completed, Perfect, and Positional Aspects and in the Imperative Mood
• LESSON 35: Nominalized Forms of Simple and Positional Intransitive Verbs and of Radical and Derived Transitive Verbs in Simple Passive and Absolute Antipassive Voices
• LESSON 36: Formation of Person Agents with Simple Intransitive Verbs and with Radical and Derived Transitive Verbs in the Absolutive Antipassive Voices and the Use of Familiar Prefixes a- and al- with Proper Names
• LESSON 37: Formation of Nouns from Adjectives and Unpossessed Forms of Obligatorily Possessed Nouns
• LESSON 38: Directional and Locational Adverbs loq, b’iik, and kanoq and Conjugation of Irregular Derived Transitive Verb ajawaxik and Use of Auxiliary Verbs kowinem and ajawaxik
• K’ichee’ to English Vocabulary
• Story: The Creation of the Animals a Long Time Ago