Combined Dictionary-Concordance of the Yucatecan Mayan Language

Some examples of verb roots which use both the transitive / passive set of verb suffixes and also the intransitive verb suffixes are:

Caanal (high)

caanalcunzic, caanalcunzah, caanalcunzmah, caanalcunze

caanaltal / caanalhal / caanalchahal, caanalchahi,

caanalchahaan, caanalchahac

caanalcunzaal, caanalcunzabi, caanalcunzaan, caanalcunzaac

Kaz (bad, ugly)

kazcuntic, kazcuntah, kazcuntmah, kazcunt

kaztal, kazchahi, kazchahaan / kazaan, kazchahac

kazcuntaal, kazcuntabi, kazcuntabaan, kazcuntabac

Uinic (man)

uiniccunzic, uiniccunzah, uiniccunzmah, uiniccunze

uiniccuntic, uiniccuntah, uiniccuntmah, uiniccunte

uinichal / uinicchahal, uinicchahi, uinicchahaan,

uinicchahac

uiniccunzabal, uiniccunzabi, uiniccunzabaan, uiniccunzabac

Utz (good)

utzcintic, utzcintah, utzcintmah, utzcinte

utztal, utzchahi, utzchahaan, utzchac

utzcintaal, utzcintabi, utzcintabaan, utzcintabac

101. The following is the second set of companion suffixes which is not as commonly used as the set given above.

Transitive Suffixes: The transitive suffixes of this set are:

-intic general form

-intah second form

-intmah third form

-inte fourth form

We have not come across examples of passive verbs using this form of suffix.

Intransitive Suffixes: Yan is the verb "to have" as well as "to exist", and -ancil has the sense of "having".

-ancil general form

-anchahi second form

-anchahaan third form

-anchahac fourth form

Al (child)

alintic, alintah, alintmah, alinte

"to bear a child"

alancil, alanchahi, alanchahaan, alanchahac

"to bear, to give birth"

He (egg)

yelintic, yelintah, yelintmah, yelinte

"to lay an egg"

yelancil, yelanchahi, yelanchahaan, yelanchahac

"to lay (an egg)")

Buc (clothes, covering)

bucintic, bucintah, bucintmah, bucinte

"to get dressed in something, to try on something"

bucancil, bucanchahi, bucaan, bucanchahac

"to get dressed"

Lol (flower)

lolancil, lolanchahi, lolanchahaan, lolanchahac

"to flower"

Cil (pulsation; now archaic)

cicilancil, cicilanchahi, cicilanchahaan, cicilanchahac

"to tremble"

Papal (to beat, to knock about)

papalancil, papalanchahi, papalanchahaan, papalanchahac

"to tremble with fear"

CAUSATIVE - RECEPTIVE VERB COMPLEX

102. The third companion set is called the causative - receptive verb complex. The causative form is transitive and the receptive form is intransitive. Notice that the receptive form is usually translated as a passive verb in English.

The causative form:

-bezic general form

-bezah second form

-bezmah third form

-bez, -beze fourth form

The receptive forms:

-chahal -pahal -lahal general form

-chahi -pahi -lahi second form

-chahaan -pahaan -lahaan third form

-chahac -pahac -lahac fourth form

Buc (noun for "covering, clothes")

bucbezic, bucbezah, bucbezmah, bucbez

"to dress someone or something"

bucinchahal, bucinchahi, bucinchahaan, bucinchahac

"to be dressed"

(Note the retention of the particle -in- which was present in this verb as shown in Section 101.)

Cim (verb root for "to die, to hurt")

cimbezic, cimbezah, cimbezmah, cimbeze

"to hurt something"

cimpahal, cimpahi, cimpahaan, cimpahac

"to be hurt"

Tu cimbezah ten le kiixo. "That thorn hurt me."

Cimpahen holace. "I was hurt yesterday."

Chuc (verb root for "to complete")

chucbezic, chucbezah, chucbezmah, chucbeze

"to complete something"

chucpahal, chucpahi, chucpahaan / chucaan, chucpahac

"to be completed"

Ma chucpahi le zio. "The (quantity of) firewood was not completed."

He in chucbezic le zio zamal. "I will complete the (quantity of) firewood tomorrow."

103. Some verb roots can take on more than one of the intransitive verbs suffix sets. In these cases it does not necessarily follow that because the verb root uses the transitive verb suffixes from one companion set that it must also use the intransitive suffix set from that same companion set as already stated above. Some examples:

Hau (verb root for "to turn right side up")

haucintic, haucintah, haucintmah, haucinte

haucuntic, haucuntah, haucuntmah, haucunte

"to turn something right side up"

hauchahal, hauchahi, hauchahaan, hauchahac

haupahal, haupahi, haupahaan, haupahac

haulahal, haulahi, haulahaan, haulahac

"to be turned right side up"

Noc (verb root for "to turn upside down")

noccintic, noccintah, noccintmah, noccinte

noccuntic, noccuntah, noccuntmah, noccunte

noccinzic, noccinzah, noccinzmah, noccinze

"to turn something upside down"

nocchahal, nocchahi, nocchahaan, nocchahac

nocpahal, nocpahi, nocpahaan, nocpahac

noclahal, noclahi, noclahaan, noclahac

"to be turned upside down"

FURTHER DISCUSSION ABOUT INTRANSITIVE VERB SUFFIXES

104. Notice that there are three very similar intransitive transforming verb suffixes:

-chahal -pahal -lahal

Some verb roots take all three suffixes. A look at these verb roots with these three suffixes indicates that there is no significant difference in the meaning imparted to the verb roots by these suffixes.

Hau (verb root for "to turn right side up")

hauchahal, hauchahi, hauchahaan, hauchahac

haupahal, haupahi, haupahaan, haupahac

haulahal, haulahi, haulahaan, haulahac

"to be turned right side up"

Lik (verb root for "to get up")

likchahal, likchahi, likchahaan, likchahac

likpahal, likpahi, likpahaan, likpahac

liklahal, liklahi, liklahaan, liklahac

"to be picked up"

Noc (verb root for "to turn upside down")

nocchahal, nocchahi, nocchahaan, nocchahac

nocpahal, nocpahi, nocpahaan, nocpahac

noclahal, noclahi, noclahaan, noclahac

"to be turned upside down"

There is a fourth suffix which is also similar but less used:

-tahal

This suffix also shares the same properties of those given above:

Men (verb root for "to make")

menchahal, menchahi, menchahaan, menchahac

menlahal, menlahi, menlahaan, menlahac

mentahal, mentahi, mentahaan, mentahac

"to be made"

There seems to be no discernable rule which would aid the reader in knowing which of the above verb suffixes should be used with which verb root.

It is interesting that of the various consonants which are used in making the full uncontracted sets of intransitive verb suffixes discussed in Section 83, namely n, ch, l, p, t, k, and dz, that set which uses n (i.e. -nahal, -nahi, -nahaan, -nahac) is missing from the above sets of transforming intransitive verbs suffixes. At the present the n set as a complete set is reserved for transforming Spanish verbs into Mayan intransitive verbs. Still, it is our opinion that the n set was at one time the primary set, but that its existence has long since decayed into the contracted forms now considered to be the standard intransitive verb suffixes.

OTHER INTRANSITIVE VERB SUFFIXES

There is what appears to be an incomplete intransitive suffix set:

-mal, -mi, (?), -mac

Yul (verb root for "to trowel", "to smooth out by troweling")

yulmal, yulmi, yulmac

Mudz (verb root for "to curl up leaves of plants do to drought")

mudzmal, mudzmi, mudzmac

Than (verb root for "to coagulate")

thanmal, thanmi, thanmac

-ebal: The verbal suffix -ebal seems to an alternative fourth form suffix for intransitive and passive verbs. Thus for example for the verb root dzoc = "to finish", for the intransitive:

dzocol, dzoci, dzocaan, dzococ

or

dzocol, dzoci, dzocaan, dzocebal

and for the passive:

dzoczabal, dzoczabi, dzoczabaan, dzoczabac

or

dzoczabal, dzoczabi, dzoczabaan, dzoczabebal

However, as can be seen in the examples below, the fourth form with the suffix of -ebal takes the Set A pronouns in the first and second persons instead of the Set B pronouns as happens with the suffix -Vc, and remains without the third person pronouns as happens with -Vc.

Bal tah etel bin in hoppebal tin meyah a uicnal?

"What are you going to give me to start working with you?"

Ua bici u beele bay bin botabebal.

"According to his work he will be paid."

OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH DERIVED FROM VERBS

105. Verbs and verb roots can become other parts of speech by various methods.

Nouns from verbs and verb roots: In some cases the general form of the intransitive conjugation of a verb is also a noun as has been noted in the chapter on nouns, Section 23.

hanal (to eat) hanal (food)

huchh (to grind) huchh (ground corn)

meyah (to work) meyah (work)

pochhil (to insult) pochhil (insult)

ximbal (to walk) ximbal (walk)

Some verb roots are also nouns in themselves as noted in the chapter on nouns in Section 24.

cah (to inhabit) cah (town)

cotz (to cut) cotz (piece)

miz (to sweep) miz, mizib (broom)

xul (to end) xul (end)

Adjectives from verbs and verb roots: as was noted in Section 56, adjectives are formed from verbs and verb roots by adding one of various suffixes.

-aan, -en: Adjectives can be formed from verbs by taking the third form of the intransitive verb and using it as an adjective. As noted in Sections 56 and 83, the third form suffix is usually -aan. There are however rare examples of the suffix -en.

bon (to paint) bonaan (painted)

boc (to stink) bocaan (stinking)

cim (to die) cimen (dead)

xoc (to count) xocaan (counted)

Examples:

bonaan pak "painted wall"

cimen chuc "dead embers" = charcoal

-Vcnac / -lac: Adjectives can be formed by appending the suffixes -Vcnac / -lac to the verb root to form what would be considered a participle in English. The vowel "V" in -Vcnac agrees with the vowel in the last syllable of the verb root. -Vcnac is the singular form and -lac is the plural.

ak (to moisten) akacnac, aklac (moist, greasy)

yap (to put on makeup) yapacnac, yaplac (groomed)

yip (to overflow) yipicnac, yiplac (overflowing)

thon (to humiliate) thonocnac, thonlac (humiliated)

Examples of usage:

akacnac luum "moist earth"

Yapacnac u pol chhuplal. "The girl's hair is groomed."

-Vcbal: The suffix -Vcbal is appended to the verb root to form what would be considered a participle in English. The vowel "V" agrees with the vowel in the last syllable of the verb root. Unlike the adjectives derived by appending the previous suffixes, it seems that the adjectival participle resulting from the use of this suffix cannot be used directly tied to the noun it is modifying, but rather is used as part of a modifying participial phrase.

chil (to recline) chilicbal (reclining)

nic (to pile) nicicbal (piled up)

noc (to turn over) nococbal (turned over)

thuch (to squat) thuchucbal (squatting)

Examples of usage:

le mac, chilicbal tu kaano "the man, laying in his hammock"

le buul, nicicbal te moyo "the beans, piled up in the corner"

-ci: Adjectives can be formed from verb roots by reduplicating the first consonant and vowel of that word and suffixing -ci onto the resulting word. The equivalent for -ci in English is "-able" or "-y". Examples:

cach (to break) cacachci (breakable)

kux (to chew) kukuxci (chewy)

moch (to twist) momochci (twistable)

tak (to stick) tatakci (sticky)

These adjectives are usually not joined to the nouns they modify but rather are part of a predicate in a sentence which describes a noun. In the Mayan language in sentences using predicate adjectives the predicate normally comes first and is followed by the subject:

Cacachci le ticin uaho. "The dry tortilla is breakable."

-bil: Adjectives and adverbs can be formed from verbs by adding the suffix -bil, or in the case where the verb root ends in b, just the suffix -il. As noted in Sections 56 and 91, this is a passive participle.

alcab (to run) alcabil (quickly, fast)

buth (to fill) buthbil (filled)

dzib (to write) dzibil (written)

huchh (to grind) huchhbil (ground)

pib (to roast) pibil (roasted)

tzah (to fry) tzahbil (fried)

Examples of usage:

Hach ci tin chi pibil nal. "I like roasted corn very much." (Literally: "Very delicious to my mouth roasted corn.")

Dza ten tzahbil he. "Give me fried eggs."

-Vn-: Some intensified adjectives and adverbs can be formed by reduplicating the root word around the particle -Vn-:

chhuy (to hang) chhuyenchhuy (densely hanging)

yal (to melt, pour) yalunyal (intermixed)

Example:

Chhuyenchhuy u kaan am ti le bucil na.

"The spider webs are densely hanging from the ceiling."

-Vl-: A somewhat similar reduplicating device is achieved by placing -Vl- in the middle of the reduplicated root:

ppit (to jump) ppitilppit (jumping up and down)

zut (to return) zutulzut (round and round)

Example:

Zutulzut tu bin le palobo.

"The children are going round and round."

There is a group of verbs which form other parts of speech by taking the verb root, either VC or CVC, and adding a suffix -VC, where the vowel V is the same as the vowel in the verb root, and the consonant C in the suffix is the same as the consonant place between the verb root and the transitive verbal suffix. The consonants and either t or l, and thus the transforming suffix is either -Vt or -Vl:

auat (scream) autic (to scream)

bohol (searched) bohlic (to search)

hayal (flatten, stretched) haylic (to stretch out)

mucut (hidden) muctic (to hide)

mulut (pile) multic (to pile)

pacat (look, face) pactic (to look)

picit (fan) pictic (to fan)

ppulut (incense) ppultic (to incense)

tohol (thrown out) tohlic (to throw out)

tucul (thought) tuclic (to think)

tumut (consideration) tumtic (to consider)

tzacal (examined) tzaclic (to examine)

zipit (loose) ziptic (to let loose)

It seems that several of these verbs are irregular in their third forms, in which the consonant t or l is dropped:

muctic, muctah, mucma, mucte

multic, multah, mulma, multe

pictic, pictah, picma, picte

tohlic, tohlah, tohma, tohle

tzaclic, tzaclah, tzacma, tzacle

ziptic, ziptah, zipma, zipte

At least one of these verbs, tohol, has an alternative transitive verb formation:

toholtic, toholtah, toholma, toholte

REFLEXIVE VERBS

106. As was noted in the chapter on pronouns in Section 38, the reflexive pronouns are the suffixes -inba (myself), -aba (yourself), -uba (himself / herself / itself), etc. or alternatively -inbah (myself), -abah (yourself), -ubah (himself / herself / itself), etc. The colonial sources generally use the first set, while some writers of this century have used the second. These suffixes are tacked onto the finished form of the transitive verb tenses.

cimze (fourth form of cimzic, to kill something)

bin in cimzinba bin'c cimzc'ba

bin a cimzaba bin a cimzabaex

bin u cimzuba bin u cimzubaob

Translation: I will kill myself, you will kill yourself, etc.

kazcuntic (to make something bad, to ruin)

tan in kazcunticinba tan'c kazcuntic'ba

tan a kazcunticaba tan a kazcunticabaex

tan u kazcunticuba tan u kazcunticubaob

Translation: I am ruining myself, you are ruining yourself, etc.

INFINITIVES

107. Infinitives do not exist in the Mayan language in the same sense that they do exist in English. That is, there is no verb form which is preceded by a preposition, the value of which is "to", such as there is in English ("to be", "to go", "to want", etc.). For the transitive and intransitive conjugations there are ways of putting two or more verbs together, as will be shown in the following sections. The passive conjugation is not dealt with here because of limited examples of passive "infinitives" aside from those given in the passive conjugation time sequence (Section 92).

108. Transitive infinitives: the transitive infinitive is formed by putting the acting verb in the intransitive conjugation with whatever tense and person needed and then adding on what would be the infinitive in English. This "infinitive" appears as the fourth form of the transitive conjugation preceded by a Set A pronoun which agrees in person with the person of the acting verb.

Yan in hokol in caxte in uooch.

"I have to go out to gather my food."

Yan in hokol is the acting verb and is the obligated future tense of the intransitive conjugation. The "infinitive" verb caxte is the fourth form of the transitive conjugation preceded by in which agrees with the person in the acting verb.

Remember from Section 77 that -Vb is a fourth form transitive verb suffix given in the colonial dictionaries and texts which was used with verb roots which did not take consonants or particles. In the first three examples below both forms of the fourth form transitive can be seen as transitive infinitives in parallel sentences. The fourth and fifth examples are parallel examples of the fourth form, but fourth example is unusual in that it uses both -Vb and -te. The final example showa the fourth form transitive with the suffix -cunte, although in this example the -e has been contracted off.

Uatal in caah in chucub hunac Ah Chibal.

Uatal in caah in colpayte u kan.

Uatal in caah in paab bla u kax can, ix hun pedz kin can.

Ca emi u chekebte u pach Itzam Cab Ain.

Ca tali u chekeb u pach Chac Xib Chac te Chi Chheen.

Ocol tun bacin in caah in zizcunt a uol.

109. Intransitive infinitives: the intransitive infinitive is formed by putting the acting verb in the intransitive conjugation with whatever tense and person needed and then adding on what would be the infinitive in English. This "infinitive" appears as the general form of the intransitive conjugation. No personal pronoun accompanies it.

Yan in hokol okot. "I have to go out to dance."

Yan in hokol is the acting verb and is the obligated future tense of the intransitive conjugation. The "infinitive" verb okot is the general form of the intransitive conjugation.

110. The conditional future of both the transitive and intransitive conjugations can be used somewhat like infinitives:

Tin ualah ti ca u bet u col. "I told him to make his garden."

Tin ualah ti ca hokoc. "I told him to come out."

DEFECTIVE AND IRREGULAR VERBS

111. Verbs can be defective for one or more of the following reasons:

not having a complete set of tenses,

not having more than the third person singular per tense,

not having any person at all.

112. There are some particles which in translation would appear to be verbs, but since they have neither person nor tense maybe they should be considered to be adverbs.

Bin (it is said, they say)

Bey bin. "So they say."

Yan bin ... "There was, it is said, ..." This is

equivalent to the English "Once upon a time ...".

This bin seems not to be related in any way to the verb bin (to go).

Mi (I think)

Mi ma tin bin zamal. "I think I will not go tomorrow."

Uchic, uchci (it happened, it came to pass): used mostly in colonial times.

Uchic tu cuch haab Uacax Ahau Katun.

"It happened in the year bearer of Eight Ahau Katun."

Uchci u meyah tulacal.

"It came to pass that everything works."

The words uchic and uchci are derived from the verb root uch, the conjugation of which is also defective as will be noted below in Section 114.

113. The following verbs can be said to have no tense at all since the time during which the action of the verbs take place is determined only by the circumstance and/or the time adverb associated with the verbs. Each of these verbs has only one paradigm.

Kat (to wish, to want)

in kat c' kat

a kat a kateex

u kat u katoob

Examples:

Baax a kati? "What do you want?"

In kat bin Ho caachi. "I wanted to go to Mérida."

Here caachi (a while ago) modifies the verb.

Incidently, there are three ways of saying the verb "to want, to desire" in Mayan. Aside from kat there is the auxiliary verb tense indicator tac and the complete verb oltic, oltah, oltmah, olt. Often these three ways can be used interchangeably. The verb oltic is used when some particular tense needs to be expressed.

Ma u kat bin. "He does not want to go."

Ma tac u bin. "He does not want to go."

Ma tu yoltic bin. "He does not want to go."

Caah (to be good for, to only be good for)

in caah c' caah

a caah a caaheex

u caah u caahoob

Examples:

Baax a caah? "What are you good for?"

Mixbaal u caah. "He is good for nothing."

Cacah yetel (to take care of, to be responsible for)

in cacah yetel c' cacah yetel

a cacah yetel a cacaheex yetel

u cacah yetel u cacahoob yetel

Example:

In cacah yetel in X-Chich. "I am responsible for my grandmother."

Ohel (to know): the intransitive conjugation of this verb is limited to one paradigm but is complete in both the transitive (oheltic, oheltah, ohelmah, ohelte) and passive conjugations (oheltabal, oheltabi, oheltabaan, oheltabac).

in uohel c' ohel

a uohel a uoheleex

u yohel u yoheloob

Examples:

A uohel tuux yan in uooch? "Do you know where my food is?"

Ma ix yoheltahoob u kaba. "They didn't know his name."

Uchebal yoheltabal tumen himac yolah yoheltah u xocol Katun lae.

"It will happen to be known by whomever wished to know the count of the Katun."

Ppec (to dislike, to get tired of): the intransitive conjugation of this verb is limited to one paradigm but is complete in both the transitive (ppectic, ppectah, ppectmah, ppect) and passive conjugations (ppectaal, ppectabi, ppectahaan, ppectaac).

in ppec c' ppec

a ppec a ppeceex

u ppec u ppecoob

Examples:

In ppec in bin ich col. "I hate to go to the garden."

Dzoc in ppectic le hanalo. "I have gotten tired of that food."

Ppectabi le otzil xibpalo tumen le macobo.

"That poor boy was disliked by those men."

C- (to say, to tell): this verb is limited in usage to the east and south of the peninsula of Yucatan, and is rarely heard in the Northwest. It is unusual also in that unlike the preceding examples in this group which take the Set A pronouns this verb takes the Set B pronouns, a function of the fact that this is a past tense verb.

cen coon

cech ceex

ci / ciac ciob / ciacoob

Example:

Ten cen ti.... "I told him...."

114. There is a group of verbs which is defective in the intransitive conjugation and appear in the third person singular in each tense only.

Kah (to remember), Tub (to forget): these two verbs are followed by the dative case of the noun or pronoun which would be the subject in English. These verbs have standard transitive and passive conjugations.

Kah (to remember)

kahal, kahi, kahaan, kahac

Dzoc u kahal ti le maco yan u tazic tech le zio.

"That man just remembered he has to bring you the firewood."

Kahaan tech ua? "Do you remember?"

The transitive and passive conjugations of kah are:

kahzic, kahzah, kazmah, kahze

kahzaal, kahzabi, kahzahaan, kahzabac

Tub (to forget)

tubul, tubi, tubaan, tubuc

Dzu tubul tech a tazic ten in zi?

"Did you forget to bring me my firewood?"

Ma tubaan ten; chen ma tin tazic.

"I didn't forget; just I am not bringing it."

The transitive and passive conjugations for tub are:

tubzic, tubzah, tubzmah, tubze

tubzabal, tubzabi, tubzabaan, tubzabac

Uch (to happen): this verb is also followed by a dative case noun or pronoun. Here however the English translation is equivalent to the Mayan.

uchul, uchi, uchaan, uchuc

Baax cu yuchul tech? "What is happening to you?"

Bey uchaan ti le uchben maco.

"That's what happened to the old man."

Hopp (to begin), Pat (to be able): these two verb are followed by a Set A pronoun which is the subject of the infinitive clause and then by the general form of a transitive or intransitive verb.

Hopp (to begin)

hoppol, hoppi, hoppaan, hoppoc

Bey cu hoppol in ualic tech.

"That is what I am beginning to tell you."

Ti hoppi in dzibtic u haabil katunoob.

"Then I began to write (about) the years of the katuns."

Ca hoppoc a dzaic yokol le yah chupil.

"Then you should begin to place it on the swollen sore."

However, this is true for the verb hopp only when it is the first verb in a infinitive clause. As a free standing verb it is regular.

Pat (to be able)

patal, pati, pataan, patac

Ma tu patal in meyah behlae.

"I am not able to work today."

Mi zamal cu patal u betic u col le maco.

"I think tomorrow that man will be able to make his garden"

115. Four of the auxiliary verb tense indicators, dzoc, zuc, yan, and kabet, also are conjugated in varying degrees of completeness and regularity.

Dzoc (to finish) has a complete set of regular conjugations.

dzoczic, dzoczah, dzoczmah, dzocz (to finish something)

dzocol, dzoci, dzocaan, dzococ (to finish)

dzoczaal, dzoczabi, dzoczaan, dzoczaac (to be finished)

The auxiliary verb tense indicators zuc, yan, and kabet are similar in that they become intransitive verbs by the addition of the suffix -tal.

zuctal, zucchahi, zucchahaan, zucchahac (to accustom)

kabettal, kabetchahi, kabetchahaan, kabetchahac (to need)

yantal, anchahi, anchahaan, anchahac ("to have" in the

sense of "to bear" or "to become")

Kabet and yan, besides being used as auxiliary verb tense indicators as described in the conjugations and being verb roots as noted above can also be followed by a dative case noun or pronoun which functions like the subject in English.

Yan ten uah. "I have tortillas."

Kabet ten uah. "I need tortillas."

116. Note that there is a difference in the sense of "to have" between yan and yantal. Furthermore yan itself has two different meanings depending on the type of pronoun attached to it. When the meaning of yan is "to have" then the dative case of the personal pronouns (ten, tech, ti, toon, teex, tiob) are used. When yan has the meaning "to be" or "to exist" then the verbal pronoun set Set B is used.

yan, anhi, anahaan, anac ("to have" in the sense of

"to possess" when conjugated with dative case

pronouns)

yan ("to have" in the sense of "to be", "to exist"

when conjugated with Set B pronouns. The verb

appears only in the present tense and thus the

conjugation is defective.)

Examples which show the differences in meaning:

Baax yan tech? "What do you have?"

Tuux yanech? "Where are you?"

Ua yan ten takin behlae minaanen uaye.

"If I had money I would not be here today."

There is a rather unusual construction using yan in the sense of "to be", in which the suffix -il is appended to the root an. This tense appears to be defective, there being no intances of either the first person singular of plural coming to our attention:

singular plural

2nd a uanil a uanileex

3rd yanil yaniloob

Examples of usage:

Bix a uanil? "How are you?"

Bix yanil? "How is he/she/it?"

Bix a uanileex? "How are you" (plural)?

Bix yaniloob? "How are they?"

More often this question is phrased as:

Bix a bel? "How are you?" (Literally: "How is your road?", etc.)

Bix u bel? "How is he/she/it?"

Bix a beleex? "How are you" (plural)?

Bix u beloob? "How are they?"

The negation of the verb yan is minaan / minaam and shares the same attributes as yan. In the colonial texts the first form is more frequently given as manaan, and the colonial dictionaries give manaan exclusively.

minaan, ma anhi, ma anahaan, ma anac

Ma anhi ten takin utial in manic in ppoc.

"I did not have any money to buy my hat."

Minaanen ca talechi. "I was not in when you came."

117. The use of the Set B pronoun set as shown above with the verb yan (to be, to exist) as the present tense intransitive pronoun set is unusual. However, as was seen in Section 26, this pronoun set is also used to verbalize certain nouns. There are in fact several nouns and adjectives which describe the state of being of a person or thing which can be verbalized by appending the Set B pronouns.

Strictly speaking, these verbs which are formed by suffixing the Set B pronouns are tenseless, with the tense being determined by the time adverbs or the context in which this verb appears.

Tuux yanech? "Where are you?"

Tuux yanech holace? "Where were you yesterday?"

In the first instance the tense is assumed to be the immediate present tense for the lack of any other indication. However in the second instance the tense is assumed to be the past perfect tense because of the adverb holace.

Most of these words which take the Set B pronouns also become intransitive verbs by the addition of the intransitive verb suffix complex -tal, -hal, -chahal as shown in Section 100.

Four of the more common words to which the Set B pronouns are appended are yan (to be, to exist), ceel (cold), uiih (hunger), and uinic (man / humanity).

Yan (to have, to be, to exist)

yantal, anchahi, anchahaan, anchahac ("to have" in

the sense of "to bear" or "to become")

Paradigm of yan with Set B pronouns (to be, to exist)

yanen yanoon

yanech yaneex

yan, yani yanoob

Ceel (to feel cold)

ceeltal, ceelchahi, ceelchahaan, ceelchahac ("to become cold")

Paradigm of ceel with Set B pronouns (to be cold)

ceelen ceeloon

ceelech ceeleex

ceel, ceeli ceeloob

Uiih (to hunger)

uiihtal, uiihchahi, uiihchahaan, uiihchahac ("to become hungry")

Paradigm of uiih with Set B pronouns (to be hungry)

uiihen uiihoon

uiihech uiiheex

uiih, uiihi uiihoob

Uinic (to be a man)

uinichal, uinicchahi, uinicchahaan, uinicchahac ("to become a man") (Note: uinichal is pronounced uinic-hal)

Paradigm of uinic with Set B pronouns (to be a man)

uinicen uinicoon

uinicech uiniceex

uinic, uinici uinicoob

Examples of other words which can take both the Set B pronouns and the intransitive verb suffixes -tal, -hal, -chahal, are:

malob (good, well) malobtal (to become good, well)

kohaan (sick) kohaantal (to become sick)

cichpam (beautiful) cichpamhal (to become beautiful)

cichcelem (hansom) cichcelemhal (to become hansom)

kaz (ugly) kaztal (to be ugly, to be broken)

nohoch (big) nohochtal (to become big)

chichan (little) chichantal (to become little)

poloc (fat) poloctal (to become fat)

dzoyan (slender) dzoyantal (to become slender)

There are also those words which normally take only the Set B pronouns:

h-men (shaman) h-menen (I am a shaman)

h-naat (wise person) h-naatech (you are a wise person)

xib (male) xibeex (you are masculine)

118. Nouns with the gentilous suffix -il (see Section 26) are verbalized by the addition of the Set B pronouns.

Ho (Mérida)

Hoil (a person from Mérida)

Paradigm with Set B pronouns (to be from Mérida)

Hoilen Hoiloon

Hoilech Hoileex

Hoil Hoiloob

Uaye (here)

uayil (a person from here)

Paradigm with Set B pronouns (to be from here)

uayilen uayiloon

uayilech uayileex

uayil, uayili uayiloob

119. Two common verbs, bin (to go) and tal (to come), are irregular in their limited way:

Bin (to go)

bin, bini, bihaan / binaan, xic

In colonial times the first form was more frequently given as binel or benel. The third form bihaan is modern usage whereas binaan is colonial and formal usage. The fourth form, xic, is irregular.

The imperative of bin is also irregular:

xen, xeneex

The collective sense of going expressed in English as "Let's go" is also irregular:

coox, coneex

Coox is also used as an auxiliary verb tense indicator whose meaning is "Let's" or "Let's go":

Coox ilic ua ma tu yuchul le baax ca ualic.

"Let's see if that which you are saying doesn't happen."

Coox hanal. "Let's go eat."

Tal (to come)

tal, tali, talaan, talac / tac

In colonial times the first form was more frequently given as talel.

The imperative is irregular:

coten, coteneex

120. The verb roots biz (to take) and taz (to bring) are derived from the verb roots bin and tal. The transitive and passive forms of these verbs have the causative marker -z- or -ez- in earlier colonial works. Through the years the consonants n of bin and l of tal have been dropped leaving the verb roots biz and taz.

121. Bin is the root verb in the transitive and passive verb "to take / to be taken". The sense of the verb is actually "cause to go". In the colonial times the relationship was apparent, but today the n in bin has been dropped making the modern transitive verb "to take" seem like a different verb.

binezic, binezah, binezmah, binez older, uncommon

conjugation of "to take"

binzic, binzah, binzmah, binez standard colonial

conjugation of "to take"

bizic, bizah, bizmah, biz standard modern conjugation

of "to take"

The passive verb "to be taken" has gone through the same transformation:

binzabal, binzabi, binzabaan, binzabac standard

colonial conjugation of "to be taken"

bizaal, bizabi, bizaan, bizaac modern conjugation of

"to be taken"

122. Tal is the root verb in the transitive and passive verb "to bring / to be brought". The sense of the verb is actually "cause to come". In the colonial times the relationship was apparent, but today the l in tal has been dropped making the modern transitive verb "to bring" seem like a different verb.

talezic, talezah, talezmah, talez older, uncommon

conjugation of "to bring"

talzic, talzah, talzmah, talez standard colonial

conjugation of "to bring"

tazic, tazah, tazmah, taz standard modern conjugation

of "to bring"

The passive verb "to be brought" has gone through the same transformation:

talzabal, talzabi, talzabaan, talzabac standard

colonial conjugation of "to be brought"

tazaal, tazabi, tazaan, tazaac modern conjugation of

"to be brought"

123. Another way that contraction has affected certain verb roots of the type CV is to be seen in transitive conjugations of the verb roots dza (to give) and chha (to take).

chhaic, chhaah, chhamah, chhae standard conjugation

of "to take"

chhic, chha, chhamah, chhae contracted conjugation

of "to take"

dzaic, dzaah, dzamah, dzae standard conjugation

of "to give"

dzic, dza, dzamah, dzae contracted conjugation

of "to give"

In the contracted conjugations in each case the vowel of the verb root has been dropped in the first form, and the verb suffix has been assimilated in the second form. Both the contracted and standard conjugations are to be found throughout the Mayan colonial literature, and both are in use today. Needless to say, the contracted conjugations are used much more frequently than the standard conjugations at this present time.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

124. In Mayan, as in English, there are four basic sentence types:

1) declarative

2) interrogative

3) imperative

4) exclamatory

This chapter will be looking principally at the word order of declarative sentences, since they make up the bulk of daily conversation. Since the word order for negated sentences is in some cases different from their positive counterparts, the negation of these sentences will be looked at where applicable.

DECLARATIVE SENTENCES

125. A declarative sentence is made up of a subject and a predicate, either of which can range from simple to compound in nature. The declarative sentence is built around the verb conjugations described in the chapter on verbs. These conjugations are intransitive, transitive, and passive. As pointed out in the introductory paragraphs on verbs (Section 73), it is important in Mayan to know what sort of action in being talked about before beginning a sentence. This is because unlike English the conjugations for transitive and intransitive verbs are different. Furthermore, as in English there is a separate conjugation for passive verbs. Thus there are three conjugations which have to be taken into account when forming a sentence in Mayan. Since each conjugation has certain peculiarities when forming a sentence, especially as the subject and predicate become more complex, each conjugation will be looked at individually.

SENTENCES WITHOUT VERBS

126. Before starting on sentences with verbs it should be noted here that, as pointed out in Section 14, Example 1, Note 1, the verb "to be" does not exist in Mayan when the sentence is of the nature of "(subject) is (predicate adjective)." In Mayan the sentence would be "(predicate adjective) (subject)." as long as the predicate adjective is simple in nature.

Examples:

Malob le hanalo. "That food is good." (Not bad

that food.)

Hach x-cichpam le x-chhupalo.

"That girl is very pretty." (Very pretty that girl.)

In Section 52 - 57 there are other examples of these types of sentences.

127. If either the predicate adjective or the subject becomes complex in any way then it is no longer necessarily true that the predicate adjective comes first in the sentence. In Section 53 there is the example:

U yatan Don Sil mas hadzutz ti u yatan Don Lau.

"The wife of Sil is more beautiful than the wife of Lau."

It would also be possible to say:

Mas hadzutz u yatan Don Sil ti u yatan Don Lau.

In this case there is a choice in the positioning of the predicate adjective, and this is generally true when the predicate adjective is comparative. There are some instances though when the predicate adjective cannot be positioned first in the sentence, and one of those instances is when the predicate adjective is superlative.

Examples:

Le xibpalo u mas nohochil in palaloob.

"That boy is the oldest of my children."

Chi Chheen Itza u mas hadzutzil le x-lac cahobo.

"Chi Chheen Itza is the most beautiful of the ruined towns."

SENTENCES WITH INTRANSITIVE VERBS

128. The simplest sentence in Mayan is composed of a unmodified intransitive verb tense of any given verb. Such a verb tense expresses in itself a complete idea. (See Section 83 through 90.)

Examples:

Hanen. "I ate." (Ate I.)

Dzoc u meyah. "He/she/it finished working." (Finished

he/she/it work.)

Tan'c bin. "We are going." (Are we go.)

Cu hokol. "He/she/it comes out."

129. The negation of the foregoing sentences is accomplished by placing the negator ma in front of the verb tense.

Ma tan'c bin. "We are not going." ("Not are we go.")

Ma tu hokol.

"He/she/it does not come out." ("Not he comes out." See Section 89 for comment on the change of the pronoun from cu to tu.)

130. The intransitive verb tense can be joined by a subject of varied complexity to define more precisely who or what is responsible for the action.

Examples:

Toone tan'c bin. "We are going." (We are we go.)

Toone, the emphatic "we", is used here to emphasize

who is doing the action.

Dzoc u meyah le maco.

"That man has finished working." (Finished he work that man.)

Le maco dzoc u meyah.

"That man has finished working." (That man finished he work.)

Cu hokol le huho.

"That iguana comes out." (It comes out that iguana.)

As can be seen in the second and third examples, there are two positions which the subject can take in an intransitive sentence; either before or after the verb tense. The usual order is to have the subject follow the verb, but putting the subject before the verb does not alter the meaning of the sentence. Putting the subject before the verb emphasizes the subject, and that would be the main reason for putting the subject in this position.

131. The negation of the foregoing sentences is accomplished by placing the negator ma directly in front of the verb tense. This is true no matter what position the subject may take.

Examples:

Toone ma tan'c bin. "We are not going." (We not are

we go.)

Ma dzoc u meyah le maco.

"That man is not finished working." (Not finished he work that man.)

Le maco ma dzoc u meyah.

"That man is not finished working." (That man not finished he work.)

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