Chuj language

The letter 'h' is conventionally used in words with initial vowels to distinguish them from words that begin with a glottal stop.

Below is a template for the verbal stem in Chuj. Verbal predicates in Chuj appear with a status suffix: -a with transitive verbs and –i with intransitive verbs. Finite clauses inflect for Tense-Aspect, person, and number.{{cite journal |author= Grinevald, Collette |author2=Peake, Marc|year=2012 |title= Ergativity and voice in Mayan: A functional-typological approach |editor = Giles Authier |editor2 = Kathleen Haude |journal=Ergativity, Valency, and Voice| pages=15–29|doi=10.1515/9783110227734.15 }}

Non-verbal predicates are non-verbal words like adjectives, nouns, positionals, or directionals that act as the main predicate and are semantically stative. These constructions do not inflect for Tense-Aspect, but do inflect for person and number.{{cite journal | author =Mateo-Toledo, Bʼalam Eladio | title= The finiteness of nonverbal predicates in Qʼanjobʼal (Maya). |journal=New Perspectives in Mayan Linguistics |pages= 162–168}} There is no overt copula in Chuj and copula constructions are expressed through non-verbal predicates.

{{interlinear|indent=4

|a ix Malin kʼaybʼum ix.

|top/foc CL Maria teacher CL

|Maria is a teacher.}}

{{interlinear|indent=4

|Ay ix hin-nun niwakil ix.

|top/foc CL my-mother large CL

|My mother is large.}}

Chuj is an ergative-absolutive language. The subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are both cross-referenced with an absolutive marker, which appears in the verbal stem. The subject of a transitive verb is cross-referenced with an ergative marker in the verbal stem.

Chuj has four attested Tense-Aspect markers. Finite clauses inflect obligatorily for Tense-Aspect.

Chuj nominal classifiers represent a closed class of approximately a dozen words. They specify gender for humans, and the base material for objects, such as wood (teʼ) for houses and metal (kʼen) for knives.

Chuj nominal classifiers have two main functions: they act as articles for referential nouns, and as pronouns. They have a lexical origin, but have undergone semantic bleaching and may therefore refer to a larger semantic field than the nominals that they are derived from.

; Articles for referential nouns

{{interlinear|indent=3

|Hebʼ winh unin ix-s-loʼ [teʼ manzan] hebʼ winh.

|PL CL.MASC child PFV-a3s-eat CL.wood apple PL CL.MASC

|As for the boys, they ate the apple.}}

; Pronouns

{{interlinear|indent=3

|Ol-s-lo teʼ ix.

|Prosp-b3s-a3s-eat CL.wood CL.FEM

|She (Elsa) will eat it (the apple).}}

Source:Yumal Skuychaj Tiʼ Chuj, ALMG, 2006, p.197

{{poem quote|

{{lang|cac|

Nokʼ Xankatat yetʼ nokʼxeʼen

Xenhxni xekxni xanhxni hinbʼeyi

Xankatak xanhbʼ wekʼ a stixalu

Xchi nokʼ xankat a nokʼ xeʼen,

Xwila xwabi, xelabʼa to ojinwekla,

to jinxekla manhx ojinwekla.

}}

}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last=Buenrostro |first=Cristina |title=Chuj de San Mateo Ixtatán |publisher=El Colegio de México |year=2009 |isbn=978-968-12-1376-3 |edition=1st |series=Archivo de lenguas indígenas de México |location=México, D.F |oclc=430517609 |lang=es}}
• {{cite book |author=Domingo Pascual, Pascual Martín |title= Gramática normativa Chuj |year=2007|publisher=ALMG|location=Guatemala City |oclc=227209552 |lang=es, Chuj}}
• {{cite book |last= Grinevald |first=Collette |last2=Peake |first2=Marc|year=2012 |chapter= Ergativity and voice in Mayan: A functional-typological approach |editor-first1 = Giles |editor-last1=Authier |editor-first2 = Kathleen |editor-last2=Haude |title= Ergativity, Valency, and Voice| pages=15–29|doi=10.1515/9783110227734.15 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hopkins |first=Nicholas A. |title= A dictionary of the Chuj (Mayan) language |year=2012|publisher=Jaguar Tours|location=Tallahassee, Florida |url=http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/dictionary/hopkins/ChujEnglishDictionary2012.pdf}}
• {{cite book | last=Mateo Toledo |first=Bʼalam Eladio |chapter= The finiteness of nonverbal predicates in Qʼanjobʼal (Maya) |title=New Perspectives in Mayan Linguistics |pages= 162–168 |editor-first=Heriberto |editor-last=Avelino}}
• {{Cite book |last=Robertson |first=John S. |title=The history of tense/aspect/mood/voice in the Mayan verbal complex |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-292-72075-6 |edition=1st |location=Austin}}

{{refend}}

• [http://talkingdictionary.swarthmore.edu/chuj/?fields=all&semantic_ids=prosustantivo&q=* Chuj Talking Dictionary, 2014. Chuj Talking Dictionary. K’ulb’il Yol Twitz Paxil / The Academy of Mayan Languages, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.]
• [http://www.almg.org.gt/portal/index.php?id=40&idioma=1 Academia de las Lenguas Mayas]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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Category:Mayan languages

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Category:Chuj