Chʼol language

There are two main dialects of Chʼol:

• Chʼol of Tila spoken by 43,870 people of whom 10,000 are monolinguals in the villages of Tila, Vicente Guerrero, Chivalito and Limar in Chiapas.
• Chʼol of Tumbalá spoken by 90,000 people of whom 30,000 are monolinguals in the villages of Tumbalá, Sabanilla, Misijá, Limar, Chivalita and Vicente Guerrero.

There are 21 consonantal segments in Chʼol. Below is the consonant inventory of Chʼol.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; p.34-35

Corresponding orthography is presented in the angle brackets next to the IPA symbols.

For the segments in the palatal column, [{{IPA link|tʲ}}, {{IPA link|tʲʼ}}] are palatalized alveolar consonants, and [{{IPA link|tʃ}}, {{IPA link|tʃʼ}}] are palato-alveolar affricates. Another property of the consonant inventory is that only the labial has a voiced segment [b], which corresponds to the voiced bilabial implosive [ɓ] in Proto-Mayan.Kaufman, Terrence and William M. Norman. An outline of Proto-Cholan phonology, morphology and vocabulary. In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, ed. by John Justeson and Lyle Campbell, 77-166. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York, Albany, 1984; p.86-88

Alveolar sounds [{{IPA link|n}}, {{IPA link|t}}] are only heard as allophones of /{{IPA link|ɲ}}, {{IPA link|ts}}/.

Chʼol has a six vowel system, as shown below in the vowel inventory.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; p.41

The vowel ä is a distinctive segment in Chʼol, as in other Chʼolan languages. According to Kaufman and Norman (1984), long vowels in the Proto-Mayan language merged with their short counterparts in Chʼolan languages, except for *aa (long) and *a (short). These segments went under a sound change, in which *aa became a and *a became ä.Kaufman, Terrence and William M. Norman. An outline of Proto-Cholan phonology, morphology and vocabulary. In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, ed. by John Justeson and Lyle Campbell, 77-166. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York, Albany, 1984; p.85

Chʼol can have CV, CVC, CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC as possible syllable structures. The most common ones are CV and CVC.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; p.46

Like many other Mayan languages, Chʼol does not allow onsetless syllables, which means words that appear to start with vowel in fact have a glottal stop as the onset.

Although complex onsets and complex codas exist, the former only occur across morpheme boundaries, and the latter are limited to jC.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; p.47

The main stress of a word typically falls on the ultima in Chʼol. This is true for most of the bisyllabic native words and polysyllabic loanwords. In the following examples, the stress is indicated by an acute accent on the nucleus.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; p.43

Compound words also have the main stress on the ultima. A secondary stress, indicated by a grave accent, can be heard in the first part of a compound word. This weak stress usually goes on the ultima of the first part.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; p.44

Chʼol writers have agreed upon the following alphabet, based on the Latin alphabet, proposed and developed by Diaz Peñate in 1992.

The absence of glyphic material in Guatemala points that the calendar was a creation of the lowland Maya. Ch'ol has been considered one of the closer languages to several Mayan glyphs inscriptions.{{Cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=Nicholas A. |url=http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/dictionary/hopkins/IntroCholDictionary2010.pdf |title=INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF CHOL (MAYAN): With a Sketch of the Grammar of Chol |last2=Josserand |first2=Kathryn |year=2010}} Lounsbury suggested that the ancient Palenqueños spoke a Proto-cholean language. A certain Palenque ruler has the glyph of a Quetzal head for his name and because the word for Quetzal in Chol is kuk, it is conjectured that his name was Lord Kuk.{{Cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Peter |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/834378616 |title=Primera Mesa Redonda de Palenque : a Conference on the Art, Iconography, and Dynastic History of Palenque, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, December 14–22, 1973. |last2=Schele |first2=Linda |date=1974 |publisher=Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pre-Columbian Art Research |chapter=Lords of Palenque: The Glyphic Evidence |oclc=834378616}} The affix Landa's I that occurs only with posterior date indicators retains resemblance with the idea of past time of Ch'ol, such in hobix 'five days hence,' hobixi 'five days ago.' As vocabularies of Ch'ol, Chontal, Chorti, and Tzotzil are far from complete, it is not possible to establish some cognates between these languages and Mayan glyphs.

An alternative hypothesis developed by Houston, Robertson, and Stuart proposed that Classic Maya inscriptions between A.D. 250 and 850 convey to Eastern Ch'olan languages, more related to Chorti language than Ch'ol language.{{Cite journal |last1=Houston |first1=Stephen |last2=Robertson |first2=John |last3=Stuart |first3=David |date=2000-06-01 |title=The Language of Classic Maya Inscriptions |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/300142 |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=321–356 |doi=10.1086/300142 |issn=0011-3204 |pmid=10768879 |s2cid=741601}} However, there is no consensus around the topic.

Affixation is the main way of word formation in Chʼol. There are prefixes, infixes and suffixes. Suffixes are considerably more abundant than the other two.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.64

There are two derivational prefixes – the noun class markers aj- and x-. The former can go with proper names, nominalize verbs, and be prefixed to some terms that refer to animals. The latter can also go with proper names and with the name of some animals, but additionally it can be prefixed to the name of some trees and plants.

In addition, Set A inflections are prefixed to nouns (10a) and verbs (10b).Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.65

Infixation is used for passivization and as a mean of deriving numeral classifiers. First, some transitive roots reduce valence by infixing -j- into the root. This process is accompanied by a reduction of the number of core arguments from two to one, and the remaining argument referring to the patient is the subject of the verb.

For the other use of infixation, the derivations come mostly from positionals and verbs.

There are many suffixes in Chʼol since suffixation is the main way of derivation and inflection. For instance, the suffix -añ on nouns can derive intransitive verbs. The suffix -is causativizes some intransitive verbs. The suffix -b derives ditransitive verbs, and -ty derives some intransitive verbs by passivization of the corresponding transitive verb.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.66-67

Like almost all other Mayan languages, Ch'ol has two sets of person markers: ergative and absolutive. The Mayan tradition is to label the former as Set A and the latter as Set B.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.74 Chʼol is a split ergative language: its morphosyntactic alignment varies according to aspect. With perfective aspect, ergative-absolutive alignment is used, whereas with imperfective aspect, we rather observe nominative-accusative.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.177-178

Set A markers are generally considered as suffixes; however, Martínez Cruz (2007) and Arcos López (2009) categorized them as proclitics. These markers usually denote the agents of transitive verbs.

Note that all markers have phonologically conditioned allomorphs: 1st singular marker changes from k to j when it precedes another k, and 2nd singular and 3rd singular markers have glides inserted when they precede consonants.

Set B markers are suffixes. These markers usually denote the patients of transitive verbs or the core arguments of intransitive verbs.

The exclusive 1st plural marker has a shorter form loñ and a longer form lojoñ. Both are used interchangeably, except when it is attached before a singular marker, in which case only the shorter form is allowed. The plural suffix -ob is often realized as -o' in speech.

The basic word order is VOS. However, word order varies and VOS is not always grammatical: factors including animacy, definiteness, topicalization and focus contribute to determining which word order is appropriate.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.21–22 A Ch'ol simple transitive phrase is comprised minimally of a single transitive verb in the form of [ASP Set A + Verb + Set B]. In the case of non-agentive intransitive verbs, the cross-reference of the single argument is accomplished with either Set A or Set B depending on the aspect of the verb. Verbal predicates can have the following aspects: perfective, imperfective, progressive, inceptive, terminative, and potential.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.263

Within Chʼol transitive verbs, there exist two primary categories: simple forms and derived forms. The former modifies the primary arguments within the verb by cross-referencing the transitive subject in Set A and the object in Set B. In the perfective aspect, this category incorporates a status suffix, which is a vowel in harmony with the root vowel. Conversely, the imperfective aspect does not take such status suffix.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.265

To form derived transitive verbs, the suffix -V or -Vñ is appended, based on the aspect. Unlike the simple forms, the suffix does not need to be in harmony with the root vowel. The direct arguments in this category are identified via Set A and Set B inflections.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.266

This construction does not take aspect markers, in contrast to verbal predicates. It can be headed by nouns, adjectives, positionals, etc. The core argument only takes Set B markers.Vázquez Álvarez, Juan Jesús. A Grammar of Chol, a Mayan Language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp.267

• Acala Chʼol
• Lakandon Chʼol
• Manche Chʼol

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book |editor-last=Aulie |editor-first=H. Wilbur |editor2=Evelyn W. Aulie |orig-year=1978 |year=1998 |title=Diccionario Chʼol de Tumbalá, Chiapas, con variaciones dialectales de Tila y Sabanilla |trans-title=Chʼol Dictionary of Tumbalá, Chiapas with dialectal variations from Tila and Sabanilla |url=http://www.sil.org/mexico/maya/chol-tumbala/S121a-Diccionario-CTU.htm |others=Emily Stairs |series=Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas "Mariano Silva y Aceves", No. 121 |edition=electronic reproduction with March 2005 corrections, 2nd |location=Coyoacán, D.F. |publisher=Instituto Lingüístico de Verano |isbn=968-31-0291-3 |oclc=42692322 }}
• {{cite book |language=es |first1=Wilbur H. |last1=de Aulie |first2=Evelyn W. |last2=de Aulie |title=Diccionario chꞌol de Tumbalá, Chiapas, con variaciones dialectales de Tila y Sabanilla |publisher=Instituto Lingüístico de Verano |location=Mexico |year=2009 |url=http://www.mexico.sil.org/es/resources/archives/35328}}
• {{cite web |author=Coon, Jessica |year=2010 |title=Complementation in Chol (Mayan): A Theory of Split Ergativity |format=electronic version |url=http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/001072 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=2010-07-15 }} [includes a grammatical sketch of the language]
• {{cite book| author=Schumann, Otto Gálvez |year=1973|title=La lengua Chol de Tila (Chiapas)|publisher=UNAM}}.
• {{cite book |last1=Warkentin |first1=Viola |last2=Scott |first2=Ruby |year=1980 |title=Gramática Chʼol |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics}}
• {{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/VI_familia_maya.html|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2019-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026050126/https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/VI_familia_maya.html|archive-date=2019-10-26|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |language=es |author1=Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI) |title=Chꞌol: Ityoj tsꞌijbuñtyel laktyꞌañ chꞌol / Chꞌol: Norma de escritura de la lengua chꞌol |publisher=México : El Instituto; Chiapas: Gobierno del Estado. Secretaría de Educación : Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas |year=2011 |isbn=978-607-7538-54-7 |url=http://site.inali.gob.mx/pdf/norma_chol.pdf |ref={{harvid|INALI|2011}}}}

{{Refend}}

{{Incubator|code=ctu}}

• [http://www.anthro.ucsd.edu/~jhaviland/ArchiveHTML/Chol/chol.htm El chʼol] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617043355/http://www.anthro.ucsd.edu/~jhaviland/ArchiveHTML/Chol/chol.htm |date=2012-06-17 }}, website with links to unpublished scholarly work on the language
• [https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla:261383 Chol Collection] of Juan Jesús Vázquez Álvarez and Jessica Coon at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Significant amount of audio and video recordings in Chʼol with transcriptions and Spanish translations.
• [https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla:280208 Chol Collection] of Carol Rose Little at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Audio and video recordings in Chʼol with transcriptions and Spanish translations.
• [https://www.ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla:124468 Mayan Languages Collection] of Victoria Bricker at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Contains a recording of a Chʼol narrative from Tila, Chiapas.
• [https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla:124472 Mayan Languages Collection] of Nicholas Hopkins at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Contains many recordings in Chʼol as well as Chuj, another Mayan language.

{{Languages of Mexico}}

{{Mayan languages}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chʼol Language}}

Category:Agglutinative languages

Category:Mayan languages

Category:Mesoamerican languages

Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico

Category:Chʼol