Combined Dictionary-Concordance of the Yucatecan Mayan Language

ADVERBS AND ADVERBIAL PARTICLES

58. Adverbs comprise a rather diverse group of modifying words and particles. In the chapter on nouns in Section 14 the use of some adverbial particles which are used as prepositions which determine the dative case was looked at. In the sections on demonstrative and interrogative words and clauses (Sections 39 through 47) there are instances where it is difficult to draw a distinction between what is a pronoun and what is an adverb, at least as far as function is concern, and since these words serve a similar function they were looked at together. At the beginning of these chapters on modifiers in Section 48 those adverbial particles which work as intensifiers and diminishers of the quality of adjectives and adverbs were noted.

The following list, which includes some of the above mentioned adverbs and adverbial particles, is divided into various adverbial types: negation, affirmation, uncertainty, repetition, totality, place, time, quality, quantity, and comparison.

59. Negation:

Ma (no, not) is the base word for negation:

Ma in uohel. "I don't know."

Ma zami manac huntul thel.

"Not long after passed by a rooster."

Ma. Ma in kati. "No. I don't want to."

Often the negated sentence or phrase which begins with the word ma is terminated by the vowels -i or less commonly -e. This is called negation bracketing. There are examples of negation bracketing in the Mayan language from the earliest written documents. Generally speaking negation bracketing seems to have been optional; at least if there are discernible rules which govern this grammatical form we have not discovered them. In some areas such as amongst the Cruzoob in Quintana Roo the use of negation bracketing seems to be almost universal. However in northwestern Yucatan in many instances negation bracketing is optional and occurs with moderate frequency. Even in this region though there are cases negation bracketing is mandatory, but there are also cases where negation bracketing is not possible. In searching for a rule or set of rules which would aid the reader in deciding when negation bracketing is to be used we have been able to come up with only the following:

With the verb kat (to want) negation bracketing is mandatory as long as the verb is the last word in the sentence:

Ma u kati. "He doesn't want to."

Mu kati. contracted form.

However if the sentence includes an infinitive clause or any other clause which makes it so that the verb kat is not the last word in the sentence negation bracketing is not normally used:

Ma u kat bin meyah behlae.

"He doesn't want to go to work today."

As mentioned above, in most cases negation bracketing is optional:

Ma in uohel. "I don't know."

Ma in uoheli. formal form with negation bracketing.

Ma in uohli. standard contraction with negation

bracketing.

However if the sentence includes an infinitive clause or any other clause which makes it so that the verb is not the last word in the sentence the negation bracketing is not normally used:

Ma in uohel ua he in bin zamal.

"I don't know whether I will go tomorrow."

In some instances negation bracketing seems to be impossible, at least in northwestern Yucatan:

Ma tin naatic. "I don't understand."

Ma tin bin. "I won't go."

In neither case, in our judgement, can negation bracketing be used, although it may well be that amongst certain groups of speakers such as the Cruzoob even in these instances negation bracketing is used. Unfortunately it seems that we cannot come up with any blanket rule or set of rules which would aid the reader in knowing when to use the negation bracket. It seems that we would have to go through the verbs verb by verb, and in some instances tense by tense for a particular verb, and make a decision on whether negation bracketing is mandatory, optional, or not possible on a case by case basis.

Mix (not, neither) is sometimes used in place of ma. As mentioned in Section 46 mix appears to have evolved from ma ix, ix being among other things a conjunctive:

Mix in uohel. "I don't know." or perhaps more precisely

"I don't even know."

As mentioned in Section 45 mix is combined with interrogative words to form the construction equivalent to "no-" in English:

mixbaal nothing

mixbikin never

mixmac no one

mixtuux nowhere

The use of double negatives in the Mayan language is the rule:

Ma tin bin mixtuux. "I am not going nowhere."

There are two special words which are used to intensify a negation:

matech certainly not

mataan of course not

60. Affirmation:

The word "yes" per se does not exist in the Mayan language. The normal method of answering a question affirmatively is to repeat at least the basis of the question.

Q: Yan ua bin Ho zamal?

"Do you (question) have to go to Mérida tomorrow?"

A: Yan in bin. "I have to go."

In some cases it is possible to answer a question or statement affirmatively without using the repetitious "yes" formula. The words most often used in this kind of answer are:

hah truly

malob not bad; used much like our "O.K."

hele certainly

huuum an affirmative humming noise

Examples:

Q: Tac a hanal? "Do you want to eat?"

A: Hah. "Yes."

Q: Ma ta betic beyo. "Don't do it like that."

A: Malob. "O.K."

Q: He ua a tazic ten le uaho zamal?

"Would (question) you bring me some tortillas tomorrow?"

A: Hele. "Certainly."

61. Uncertainty:

These words express uncertainty as to whether the statement modified by them will happen. Some of these words will be used as lead-ins and some will be used at the end of the statements.

Lead-ins:

hinuilce possibly; from he in uilice (I will

see).

mi maybe, I think

haylibe in any case, anyway

Examples:

Hinuilce ua ma tin bin Ho cabe.

"I will see if I don't go to Mérida two days from now."

Mi ma tin bin. "Maybe I won't go."

Haylibe bey cu thanoob. "Anyway that's what they said."

Ending statements:

uale they say

ixtaco it seems

Both of these are combined with bey (thus, so) to form a phrase which is given as a noncommittal answer:

Bey uale. "So they say."

Bey ixtaco. "So it seems."

62. Repetition:

The word ca ("again": one of ca's various meanings) is used with verbs to indicate the repetition of an act:

Yan in ca pakic in col.

"I have to plant my garden again."

Dzoc ua ca tale? "Have you come again?"

63. Totality:

The word la and the particle -lan- are used to indicate that all of the object of the verb's action is involved. La is placed before the verb it modifies and -lan- is placed in the middle of it.

Dzoc in la hantic le hanalo.

"I just ate all of that food."

Tan u xotlantic le cheo.

"He is cutting all of the trees."

64. Place:

As noted in Section 14 in the chapter on nouns, there are, as in English, many adverbial particles or prepositions which determine the dative case for nouns. Some of these are:

ti to, at, from

ich, ichil in, inside of

yok, yokol on, on top of

yanal, yanil under, beneath

The clauses which result from the use of these prepositions are adverbial clauses.

Taz ten ha ichil le tumben chhoyo.

"Bring me water in the new bucket." The clause ichil le tumben chhoyo

modifies the verb taz.

In Section 42 in the chapter on pronouns the words tela (here) and telo (there) along with adverbial clauses such as te caanalo (up there) were mentioned.

tela here

telo there

te caanalo up there

te cabalo down there

Examples of usage:

Dza le tumben chhoyo telo. "Put the new bucket there."

The word telo modifies the verb dza.

Dza le tumben chhoyo te caanalo.

"Put the new bucket up there." The clause te caanalo modifies the verb dza.

In addition to tela (here) there is the word uaye (here). While sometimes these words can be used interchangeably, usually only one or the the other can be used in any given setting. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to a set of rules which can stated about when to use which.

Coten uaye. "Come here."

Dza tela. "Put (it) here."

The particles uay (here) and te (there) are used as prepositions to adverbial clauses.

uay tu cahal Tuz Ik "here in the town of Tuz Ik"

te tin uotoch "there in my house"

65. Time:

Some of the adverbs which modify time are part of the verb tenses as described in the chapter on verbs. Others can appear independently of the verb tenses.

Verb tense modifiers:

uch, uchi some time ago

uch caachi long ago

caachi a while ago

Examples:

Uch manac uaye. "He passed by here some time ago."

Minaan cah uaye uch caachi.

"There wasn't a town here long ago."

Independent time adverbs:

behlae now, today

beyora now, this hour

zam awhile, but within the day

ma zam not very long ago

zanzamal daily

dzoc u man kin in days gone by

tichh always

calicil meanwhile

hunzutuc in a moment

taytac soon, nearly

cacate later

Examples of usage:

Zanzamal cu hokol. "He/she/it comes out daily."

Taytac cun u kuchul le uaua.

"The bus is going to arrive soon."

66. Quality:

chanbel slowly

zeb, zebaan quickly

han rapidly

tec immediately

chich hard

izticya with difficulty

malob well

kaz badly

Examples of usage:

Chanbeli cu tal le maco. "That man is coming slowly."

Yan a chich pulic le tunicho.

"You have to throw that rock hard."

Izticya cu man le xunano.

"That woman walks with difficulty."

67. Quantity:

yaab a lot

hunppit a little

chen only

tu ppiz just right

Example:

Chen hunppit tu bin tac c' kuchul ti Ho.

"Only a little to go until we arrive at Mérida."

68. Comparison:

bey like, as

bix, hebix as, like

Example:

Yan a betic hebix tin ualic tech.

"You have to do it like I am telling you."

The words bey, bix, and hebix have other meanings. Bey, as will be noted in the following Section 69, also means "so" / "thus". Bix and hebix have been looked at in Section 45; bix being also an interrogative "how?" and he bix being "however".

ADVERBS FROM OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH

69. Certain nouns, in particular those dealing with time, can be used adverbially.

behlae (today, now)

Tuux ca bin behlae? "Where are you going today?"

zamal (tomorrow)

Yan in thancech zamal. "I have to call you tomorrow."

Certain words serve both as adjectives and adverbs. Unlike English, in which an adverb is usually distinguishable from an adjective either by the addition of the suffix "-ly" to the adverbial form (e.g. bad - badly) or by a change in the word (e.g. good - well), in Mayan there is no distinguishing feature which sets an adverb off from an adjective. Whether the word is an adjective or an adverb is determined by context.

Examples:

kaz (bad, badly)

le can kaz ike "those four bad winds"

Kaz betabi. "It was made badly."

malob (good, well)

malob hanal "good food"

Malob hani. "He/she/it ate well."

There are various suffixes which when appended to verb roots form adverbs.

-aan: The third form of the passive verb can be used as an adverb. The third form suffix is -aan, and when used as an adverb is somewhat equivalent to the English suffix "-ly":

zeb (to be quick) zebaan (quickly)

Example of usage:

Zebaan cu tal le chaco. "The rain is coming quickly."

-bil: The passive suffix -bil is appended to the verb root to form an adverb. In the case where the verb root ends in -b just the -il is added:

alcab (to run) alcabil (quickly, fast)

Examples of usage:

Alcabil cu tal le xibpalo. "The boy is coming quickly."

CONJUNCTIVE WORDS AND PARTICLES

70. In the Mayan language the conjunctions generally function like their English counterparts as far as their use and position is concerned.

Yetel (and / with): yetel is the major conjunction and doubles both as "and" and "with".

X-Nico yetel X-Tina cu binoob yetel le huchho.

"Nicolasa and Tina are going with the ground corn meal."

As already noted in Section 14, note 7E, the base word is actually etel, but the consonants y or u are almost always prefixed onto the word.

Cux? (And?): Cux? is an interrogative conjunctive which leads off a rejoining question.

Cux tun X-Ana, ma tu bin?

"And therefore Ana, isn't she going?"

Cux tech? "And you?"

Cux is frequently accompanied by tun. The word Cux or the clause Cux tun begins the interrogative sentence.

Xan (also, too)

Mi yan u bin xan. "I think she has to go too."

The word xan is used, especially in modern H-Men rituals, as a cadence filler or perhaps as a rhythm maker. Another word which shares a similar function is bacan (certainly).

bin u caah xan ci katabi xan tu chi bacan tu santo noh

kaknab

"it wants to go also to graciously be asked also certainly at the holy great sea"

yetel in kubentic xan in zuhuy santo meyah xan

"and I dedicate also my virgin holy work also"

bey xan bacan xan cin kubentic xan in cuenta xan

"thus also certainly also I dedicate also my account also"

Ix (and, thus): The word ix as a conjunctive is used rarely today but is quite common in the colonial literature. When ix is a conjunctive it generally follows the words which it is acting upon.

Tancoch katun utzi, tancoch ix ma utzi xani.

"Half of the katun is good, and half is not good also."

He ix u kaba yah kinobe;

"Here thus are the names of the priests;"

Ulom ix uezil ti balcahi.

"Thus shall return leprosy to the world."

Ix was frequently paired with another word in the colonial texts:

bacac ix even though

bal ix what

bay ix thus

ca ix then

he ix here

hi ix maybe

lay ix thus

ma ix not

mac ix who

tab ix where

ti ix then

ua ix if, or

Ua (if, or, or an interrogative particle): Aside from the meanings "if" and "or", ua performs the function of indicating that a question is being asked. It is necessary to use this particle because sometimes inflection and/or word order will not be enough to indicate that a question is being asked.

Yan ua bin? "Do you have to go?" The pronoun a (you)

has been contracted into the interrogative particle ua.

Ua ma ta bin behlae, yan ua bin zamal?

"If you don't go today, are you going tomorrow?"

bay nohoch uinic ua ix palaloob xan

"whether big people or children also"

The word ua is often used in pairs resulting in "either --- or".

ua ten ua tech "either I or you"

Mix --- mix (neither --- nor): the use of mix has been noted in Section 59.

mix ten mix tech "neither I nor you"

Notice that for both ua --- ua and mix --- mix that the first person pronoun ten comes first. The idea that it is impolite to put one's own self first and thus grammatically an incorrect thing to do as is the case with English does not hold in the Mayan language.

Cex (even if)

Cex ma ta bin tene yan in bin.

"Even if you don't go I have to go."

Tun (therefore): tun is used much more than its English counterpart.

Bix tun can a bete?

"How therefore are you going to do it?"

Tun is frequently used as the second word in introductory clauses. Some of the more common clauses are:

bay tun thus therefore (colonial usage)

bey tun thus therefore

ca tun then therefore

he tun here therefore

lay tun thus therefore (colonial usage)

ley tun thus therefore

le tun when therefore (modern spelling)

lic tun then therefore (colonial usage)

ti tun then therefore

Examples:

ca tun kuchoob ti Nun

"then therefore they arrived at Tinun"

bay tun u kaba "thus therefore is his/her name"

le tun tech x-cichpam x-chhup,

"When therefore you beautiful woman,"

Bey (thus, so), Bay (thus, so; colonial usage): There is a shift from -ay to -ey both in this word and in the companion word lay / ley. This shift appears to have taken place slowly during the colonial period, but is as of yet not complete, there being some examples of -ay still used as will be noted in a moment. Also, in the area around Zac Ii (Valladolid) and Tzimin (Tizimin) the use of bay and lay still predominates.

Bey cu thanoob, bey cu yalcoob.

"Thus they say, thus they speak."

From bey / bay comes the words beyli / bayli, both of which are found in colonial usage and modern usage. The words mean "always".

Bayli bey cin beitc. "I always do it like this."

Ley / lay (thus)

Ley cin ualic tech. "That's what I am telling you."

From ley / lay comes the words leyli / layli, both of which are found in colonial usage and modern usage. The words also mean "always". Sometimes these words are pronounced leyili / layili.

The demonstrative particle le (Sections 10 and 40) seems to be derived from ley.

Ca (then)

Ca tu yalah beya, "Then he said like this,"

In colonial times, as noted above, ca was frequently paired with ix giving ca ix or caix (then) and with tun giving ca tun (then therefore).

Pero (but; borrowed from Spanish), hetun, heua, heuac (but; colonial usage): The Mayan words for "but" are very rarely used today.

Examples:

Pero bix tun a uohel, xibpal? "But how do you know, boy?" (xibpal is used among peers much like "man" is in English.)

hetun tu uacppel kinile lay tun u yax chun u kinil ah

cuch haab "but on the sixth day then (this is) therefore the first day of the year bearer."

NUMBERS AND NUMBER CLASSIFIERS

71. The abstract numbers hun (one), ca (two), ox (three), can (four) and the interrogative hay (how many?) do not exist by themselves. They are always accompanied by a number classifier which indicates what variety of object is being talked about. The number classifier is suffixed to the number. The most common number classifiers are:

-ppel inanimate objects

-tul animate objects

-ten times an action is done

Examples:

Q: Hayppel chheen yan ti a cahal?

"How many wells are there in your town?"

A: Chen humppel. "Only one."

Q: Haytul palaloob yan tech?

"How many children do you have?"

A: Yan cantul caachi. "There used to be four."

Q: Hayten binech Ho?

"How many times have you gone to Mérida?"

A: Oxten. "Three times."

Other number classifiers still is use are:

-codz rolls of flat things

-cop rolls of long things (string, wire, etc.)

-cuch loads on the back

-cul trees, bushes

-dzac surface area of 20 by 20 meters

-dzapa stacks of flat things

-dzit sticks or long objects such as candles

-kan distances of 20 meters

-kax things tied in bundles

-lot pairs

-lub leagues

-mal times

-mut strainers full (about 1 liter)

-pak blows

-piz measures (of time, volume, distance)

-ppit bits

-tichh strands

-tuy pinches

-tzuc pieces of soft things

-uadz journeys

-xet pieces, usually of hard, flat things

-zap arm lengths (about 1 meter)

There are some number classifiers which seem to be used only with the number hun (one):

hunpay different (the derivation of -pay is

inexplicable)

hun zutuc in a moment

As was noted in Section 7 the numbers in the Mayan language at this present time do not extend above can (four). For the numbers above can, or for some speakers above ox (three), the Spanish equivalents are used. Usually when a Spanish number is used the Spanish equivalent of the Mayan number classifier is used with it.

Occasionally Mayan numbers above can are used in rituals today, especially bolon (nine) and oxlahun (thirteen). As far as can be determined however, almost no one associates a numerical quantity with these numbers but rather a magical quality. The magical quality seems to be in keeping with the qualities associated with these numbers even at the time when the quantities which these numbers represented were understood.

72. The colonial sources which were written by Mayan scribes are quite clear on how the Maya of the period used their number system. The system was vigesimal. The names for the various place holders acted like number classifiers. Some of these are:

-kal units of 20

oxkal three twenties, or 60

-bak units of 400

canbak four four hundreds, or 1600

-pic units of 8000

hunpic one 8000, or 8000

Between the colonial sources and the various grammars on the Mayan language there is general agreement for those numbers through twenty:

hun buluc

ca lahca

ox oxlahun

can canlahun

ho holahun

uac uaclahun

uuc uuclahun

uaxac uaxaclahun

bolon bolonlahun

lahun hunkal

According to the colonial sources at the number hunkal (20) the sequence begins again with the word catac (and) being the conjunctive which ties the number together:

hunkal catac hun

hunkal catac ca

hunkal catac ox

etc.

Examples:

hunkal catac uaxacppel haab:

"one score and eight years (28 years)"

cankal haab catac uaclahunpizi:

"four score years and sixteen measures (of years) (96 years)"

holahunkal haab catac cankal haab caixtac canppel haab:

"fifteen score years and four score years and also four years (384 years)"

There seems however to be quite a bit of confusion about how the number system functioned in the earlier grammar books, starting with Beltran, for the numbers above twenty. It is difficult to determine what the source of this confusion is. It seems though that what the grammar books have to say about the number system has little relevance to how the number system was employed by the Maya themselves.

VERBS

73. The verb, because of the number of different tenses needed to adequately express the various times during which an action occurs, is the most difficult part of speech to master. In the Mayan language there is an extra problem in that the verb goes through different conjugations depending on whether or not an object is expressed. In English there is no difference in the conjugation of a verb whether the verb is transitive or intransitive. For example there is no change in the verb "to eat" if we say "I am eating bread." (transitive) or "I am eating." (intransitive). In the Mayan language however the verb conjugations differ depending on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive.

Tan in hanal. "I am eating." (intransitive)

Tan in hantic uah. "I am eating bread." (transitive)

In both cases the auxiliary verb tense indicator tan, the personal pronoun in, and the verb root han- are the same. However the verb endings for the transitive and intransitive verbs are different.

For passive verbs, English does have a different conjugation, and so does Mayan.

Tan in hantaal. "I am being eaten."

In the Mayan language therefore there are three basic sets of conjugation: transitive, intransitive, and passive. In this grammar each conjugation will be looked at separately.

74. The Mayan verb usually appears in four principal forms in each conjugation. There are however some verbs which by their nature are defective and thus are lacking one or more of these forms. These four forms are:

general form

second form

third form

fourth form

The most common form of a verb in any one of the conjugations is the one used both with the majority of the auxiliary verb tense indicators and with the habitual tenses. This form is called in this grammar the general form. In colonial dictionaries intransitive and passive verbs are often listed using this form.

The second form is used in the various past perfect tenses. The action expressed in these tenses is action which was completed in a relatively short period of time. In colonial dictionaries transitive verbs are often listed using this form.

The third form is used in the past action-continuing purpose tenses. The action expressed in these tenses happened in the past, but the purpose for which the action was done continued for some time, usually through the present.

The fourth form is used both in future tenses and in certain past tenses, depending on the auxiliary verb tense indicator associated with it. The transitive fourth form is also used somewhat like our infinitive in a transitive infinitive clause.

75. In the description of each of the conjugations which follows some sample verbs are given for examples. These verbs are listed with their four forms if they are not defective. For the intransitive and passive verbs since the second, third, and fourth forms are conjugated with Set B pronouns the third person singular only is given in the examples.

As noted in the foreword to this grammar the tenses in the conjugations of Mayan verbs do not fit neatly into the Latin verb model which, rightly or wrongly, has been applied to other European languages such as English. We have decided to try a different approach to describing what each of the various Mayan tenses is expressing in terms of when an action is taking place. What we have done is to arrange the various tenses linearly in order starting with the remote past and continuing to the distant future, and for those tenses for which there is no exact tense denomination in the Latin model, which is for most of them, there are descriptions of the meaning of those tenses. Since irregularities within any one tense do not exist as they do in the English language only the third person singular is given for each tense.

It should be noted that the tenses of Mayan verbs tend to be more precise in their expression of the time that the action of the tense takes place than their English counterparts. On the other hand, and this may seem like an inconsistency, once a time frame has been established in a conversation the verb tenses which follow may not coincide with what should actually be used. Frequently once a time frame has been set the following verbs will be given in a present tense. This can be seen in the accompanying short stories.

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