| Qʼanjobʼal | |
|---|---|
| Kanjobal | |
| Pronunciation | [qʼanxoɓal] |
| Native to | Guatemala |
| Region | Huehuetenango, Guatemala,Chiapas |
| Ethnicity | 208,000Qʼanjobʼal in Guatemala (2019 census) |
Native speakers | 180,000: 170,000 in Guatemala (2015 – 2019 census)[1] 10,000 in Mexico (2020 census)[2] |
Mayan
| |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Guatemala |
| Regulated by | Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kjb |
| Glottolog | qanj1241 |
| ELP | Q'anjob'al |
Qʼanjobʼal (IPA:[qʼanxoɓal]) (alsoKanjobal)[3] is aMayan language from theQ'anjobalan branch spoken primarily inGuatemala and part ofMexico. According to 1998 estimates compiled bySIL International inEthnologue, there were approximately 77,700 native speakers, primarily in theHuehuetenango Department of Guatemala.[4] InChiapas, Mexico, municipalities where the Qʼanjobʼal language is spoken includeCatazajá,Amatenango de la Frontera,La Trinitaria,Bella Vista,Frontera Comalapa,Las Margaritas andMaravilla Tenejapa.[5] In Huehuetenango, the municipalities where the language is spoken areSan Juan Ixcoy (Yich Kʼox),San Pedro Soloma (Tzʼulumaʼ),Santa Eulalia (Jolom Konobʼ),Santa Cruz Barillas (Yalmotx),San Rafael La Independencia, andSan Miguel Acatán (Pedro Mateo Pedro 2010). Qʼanjobʼal is taught in public schools throughGuatemala's intercultural bilingual education programs.
Qʼanjobʼal is a member of the Qʼanjobʼalan branch of the Mayan language family. The Mayan language family includes 31 languages, two of which are now extinct. The Qʼanjobʼalan branch includes not only Qʼanjobʼal itself but alsoChuj,Akatek, andJakaltek, also spoken in Mexico and Guatemala. The Qʼanjobʼalan languages are noted for being among the most conservative of the Mayan language family, although they do include some interesting innovations.[6]
Qʼanjobʼal consists of 26 consonant sounds and 5 vowel sounds.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a | |
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Retroflex | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | ⟨m⟩m | ⟨n⟩n | |||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | plain | ⟨p⟩p | ⟨t⟩t | ⟨tz⟩ts | ⟨ch⟩tʃ | ⟨tx⟩ʈʂ | ⟨k⟩k | ⟨q⟩q | ⟨ʼ⟩ʔ |
| ejective | ⟨tʼ⟩tʼ | ⟨tzʼ⟩tsʼ | ⟨chʼ⟩tʃʼ | ⟨txʼ⟩ʈʂʼ | ⟨kʼ⟩kʼ | ⟨qʼ⟩qʼ | |||
| implosive | ⟨bʼ⟩ɓ | ||||||||
| Fricative | ⟨s⟩s | ⟨xh⟩ʃ | ⟨x⟩ʂ | ⟨j⟩x | |||||
| Approximant | (⟨w⟩v) | ⟨l⟩l | ⟨y⟩j | ⟨w⟩w | |||||
| Flap | ⟨r⟩ɾ | ||||||||
Primary stress in Qʼanjobʼal is fairly simple. Words in isolation and in final phrase boundaries bear stress on the last syllable. However, words within a phrasal unit (not in final phrase boundary) bear stress on their first syllable.
As in all Mayan languages, Qʼanjobʼal classifies allverbs as either inherentlyintransitive (calling up only one argument) or as inherentlytransitive (calling up two arguments).[8] Qʼanjobʼal is anergative–absolutive language, in which thesubject of atransitive verb takes an ergative affix, while the subject of anintransitive verb, as well as theobject of a transitive verb, takes an absolutive affix.
There are two sets ofaffixes for ergative: the first set is used for those verbal roots beginning with a consonant, and the second set is used for those beginning with a vowel.
| verbal roots beginning with a consonant | verbal roots beginning with a vowel | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | hin- | ko- | w- | j- |
| 2nd person | ha- | he- | h- | hey- |
| 3rd person | s-/Ø- | s-/Ø- | y- | y- |
naq
winaq.
man
X-Ø-inmaqʼ naq winaq.
COMP-A3S-E1S-hit CL:masc man
'I hit the man.' (Mateo 2008: p.c.)
Ergative affixes are also used forpossession.
There is only one set of absolutive affixes with two variations: pronounced like free words or attached to something else. The third person absolutive affix is Ø, i.e., unmarked or empty.
| when attached to preceding sounds | not attached to a preceding sound | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -in | -on | hin | hon |
| 2nd person | -ach | -ex | hach | hex |
| 3rd person | -Ø | -Ø...(hebʼ) | Ø | Ø...(hebʼ) |
However, while verbs are classified as either ergative or absolutive and take their own respective sets of pronoun affixes, this rule is altered in certain cases, such as when a verb becomes progressive:
but,
In Qʼanjobʼal,aspect (whether an action has been completed or not) is more important thantense. Thus, in most utterances, one will indicate whether the action is incompletive, or whether it is completed, or may happen in the future, in which case it is considered 'unreal', or ofirrealis mood, the event still only in the realm of thought or imagination.
Ch(i) is used to indicate that an event is incomplete or ongoing at some time:
toj
go
naq
unin
child
bʼay
to
y-atut-al
kuy-oj.
study-NZR
Chi-Ø toj naq unin bʼay y-atut-al kuy-oj.
INC-A3S go CL:masc child to E3S-house-ABS study-NZR
'The boy goes to school'.[11]
Max orx- (both forms are used in free variation) are used to indicate that an event is complete:
The prefixhoq- with the suffix-oq are used to indicate that the event spoken of has not yet happened, but remains only in the realm of the 'unreal' with only the potential for occurrence in the future:
Negative particles includekʼam andmanaq:
Manaq
ix
she
toj
go
kuy-oj.
study-NOM
Manaq ix chi-Ø toj kuy-oj.
NEG she INC-A3S go study-NOM
'It is not she who goes to study.'[16]
Questions can be formed simply by using rising intonation with declarative syntax:
w-etoq?
Ch-Ø-oche-j cha-ch kanal-w-i w-etoq?
INC-A3S-E2S-SFX INC-A2S dance-SFX-STAT E1S-with
'Do you want to dance with me?'[17]
There is also a question particle,mi:
(Used as common form of greeting, like English 'How are you?')
Many different affixes are used in Qʼanjobʼal, both prefixes and suffixes. Among these areaj-, used to denote the doer or leader of an action:ajtzʼibʼ, ʼwriterʼ (<tzʼibʼ 'write'),ajbʼe, 'spiritual guide' (<bʼe 'road');-bʼal, used to indicate the location where something happens:tzombʼal 'market' (<tzon 'buy');-al,-alil,-il, used to derive abstract nouns from adjectives, adverbs, numerals, transitive verb roots, and nouns:syalixhal 'his/her smallness' (<yalixh 'small');swinaqil 'husband' (<winaq 'man');-kʼulal, to derive nouns from intransitive verbs, adjectives, other nouns, etc.:watxkʼulal 'friendliness';-oj, nominalizer, turning verbs into nouns:kuyoj 'studying' (<kuy 'study').
Qʼanjobʼal has a fixedword order. It follows averb–subject–object (VSO) word order. All changes to this word order are driven by pragmatic or syntactic factors like focus, negation, interrogation, relativization, etc. These are subject to an ergative–absolutive pattern where arguments cross-referenced by ergative affixes must become absolutives prior to their fronting (focus, negation, etc.). This results in some possible subject–verb (SV),object–verb–subject (OVS) orders. However SVO, SOV and OSV are not possible (or, at least, not attested in any known corpus). The apparent exception is in reflexives and reflexive possessives, where the reflexive phrase ERG-bʼa (noun) or reflexive possessive ERG-noun appears directly following the verb.[18]
Some Qʼanjobʼal nouns require that certain classifiers be used with them. Among these areno' (animals),te (trees/wood),ix (female),naq (male),chʼen (stone/metal),xim (corn), andan (plants).
Reduplication, or duplication of a root word, is a minor process in the formation of Qʼanjobʼal vocabulary, as in the following:
pux-pux
pux-pux
'belly of animal'
txʼa-txʼa
txʼa-txʼa
'chewing gum'
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Qʼanjobʼal consists of groups ofroots that can take affixes. Words are traditionally classified asnouns,adjectives,adverbs,intransitive andtransitiveverbs,particles, and positionals. Positionals are a group of roots which cannot function as words on their own; in combination with affixes they are used to describe relationships of position and location. Particles are words that do not take affixes; they mostly function in adverbial roles, and include such things asinterrogative particles, affirmative/negative words, markers of time and location,conjunctions,prepositions anddemonstratives.
Locatives are often formed by placing a noun after a possessed body-part term:s-ti bʼe, 'edge of the road' < 'its-mouth road' ands-jolom witz, 'mountaintop' or 'summit' < 'its-head mountain'. Similarly, compound nouns may be formed by placing a noun after another possessed noun:y-atutal kuyoj, 'school' < 'its-house studying'.
| anima | person |
| chʼenej | rock/stone |
| aʼ ej | water/river |
| ix | woman |
| chikay | grandmother |
| mamin | grandfather |
| ixim | corn |
| kaq | red/hot |
| kʼu | sun/day |
| mam | father |
| mis | cat |
| na | house (alsoatut) |
| patej | tortilla |
| sat kan | sky (lit. snake's eye) |
| son | marimba |
| te' | tree |
| txʼi' | dog |
| txʼotxʼej | land |
| txutx | mother |
| unin | child |
| waykan | star |
| winaq | man |
| witz | mountain |
| xajaw | moon/month |
| yibʼan qʼinal | Earth/world |
| xumak | flower |
ABS abstractivizer
CL classifier
COM complete
INC incomplete
INT interrogative
IRR irrealis
NEG negative
NZR nominalizer
PL plural
PROG progressive
SFX suffix
STAT status
COMPL:completiveCOM:CompletiveA3S:Third-person singular absolutiveE1S:First-person singular ergativeA1S:First-person singular absolutiveE3S:Third-person singular ergativeSFX:Status suffixINC:IncompletiveA2S: Second-person singular absolutiveE2S: Second-person singular ergativeA3: Third-person absolutiveINTER:InterrogativeA2P: Second-person plural absolutiveA3P: Third-person plural absolutiveNZR:Nominalizer
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| Indigenous languages |
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